National Park Service: Opportunities to Improve the Administration of the Alternative Transportation Program
GAO-03-166R
Published: Nov 15, 2002. Publicly Released: Dec 16, 2002.
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Highlights
In light of the increasing significance and potential costs of dealing with transportation in the national park system, we reviewed the Park Service's administration of the Alternative Transportation Program. Specifically, we are reporting on the Park Service's processes for (1) ensuring that alternative transportation projects are needed and cost-effective, and (2) evaluating the performance of the program. It is important to point out that in addressing these issues our work focused on the agency's process for reviewing and approving projects. Accordingly, we did not evaluate whether any specific project was in fact needed and cost-effective. In conducting the work, we examined agency files for a sample of 20 projects--10 planning projects and 10 construction projects--that account for 54 percent of the total program funding for fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2003.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of the Interior | To strengthen the Park Service's process for approving and prioritizing alternative transportation projects and to better ensure that the Alternative Transportation Program achieves its desired results, the Secretary of the Interior should require the Director of the National Park Service to implement the agency's plans for requiring that each construction project proposal submitted for headquarters approval include documentation supporting the need for a proposed project--including an analysis of non-construction alternatives and park capacity data. Similarly, planning proposals should ensure that this kind of information is developed by identifying plans for obtaining it. |
Closed – Implemented
The National Park Service has stated that it has taken steps to ensure that transportation projects include documentation supporting the proposed project. These include the establishment of a template to be used by parks for justifying projects, a team of experts to provide assistance to park managers contemplating projects, a training course provided to park personnel, and new project evaluation criteria used by Headquarters personnel to evaluate each project proposal. Each of these steps includes analyses of non-construction alternatives, park capacities, operations and maintenance costs, and project cost effectiveness as called for in the GAO report.
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| Department of the Interior | To strengthen the Park Service's process for approving and prioritizing alternative transportation projects and to better ensure that the Alternative Transportation Program achieves its desired results, the Secretary of the Interior should require the Director of the National Park Service to implement the agency's plans for requiring that each construction project proposal submitted for headquarters approval include an analysis supporting the project's cost-effectiveness, including total project cost estimates and anticipated annual operations and maintenance costs. Similarly, planning proposals should ensure that this kind of information is developed by identifying plans for obtaining it. |
Closed – Implemented
The National Park Service stated that it has taken steps to ensure that transportation projects include documentation supporting the proposed projects' cost effectiveness. These include establishing a template to be used by parks that prompts parks to include data on operations and maintenance costs and project cost-effectiveness. In addition, the Park Service provides technical assistance and training to park managers that includes steps to ensure projects are cost-effective. Also, new project evaluation criteria being used by Headquarters to evaluate each project proposal includes reviews of cost-effectiveness and life cycle costing analyses.
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| Department of the Interior | To strengthen the Park Service's process for approving and prioritizing alternative transportation projects and to better ensure that the Alternative Transportation Program achieves its desired results, the Secretary of the Interior should require the Director of the National Park Service to implement the agency's plans for developing a performance evaluation system, including the development of performance goals and measures, so that there is an objective basis for determining whether the program and individual projects are accomplishing the desired results. |
Closed – Not Implemented
The National Park Service Alternative Transportation Program has been terminated. All transportation projects in the parks are now managed on a case-by-case basis under the Federal Transit Administration, Department of Transportation. Consequently, this recommendation is no longer applicable.
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Topics
Environmental monitoringNational parksProgram evaluationRecreation areasTransportation planningCost estimatesTransportationMaintenance costsPerformance goalsPrioritizing