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Federal-Aid Highways: FHWA Needs a Comprehensive Approach to Improving Project Oversight

GAO-05-173 Published: Jan 31, 2005. Publicly Released: Jan 31, 2005.
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Highlights

The federal-aid highway program provides over $25 billion a year to states for highway and bridge projects, often paying 80 percent of these projects' costs. The federal government provides funding for and oversees this program, while states largely choose and manage the projects. Ensuring that states effectively control the cost and schedule performance of these projects is essential to ensuring that federal funds are used efficiently. We reviewed the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) approach to improving its federal-aid highway project oversight efforts since we last reported on it in 2002, including (1) FHWA's oversight-related goals and performance measures, (2) FHWA's oversight improvement activities, (3) challenges FHWA faces in improving project oversight, and (4) best practices for project oversight.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Transportation In order to establish a comprehensive approach to project oversight, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FHWA, to link FHWA's day-to-day activities and the performance expectations set for its staff to its goals and outcome measures.
Closed – Implemented
For fiscal year 2009, FHWA linked its day-to-day oversight activities and the performance expectations set for its staff to its oversight goals and outcome measures. We reviewed five FHWA division offices and found that each office's fiscal year 2009 performance plan generally includes activities that support and further the oversight goals and measures articulated in FHWA's 2009 strategic implementation plan. In addition, the plans specify which staff members are expected to carry out each action.
Department of Transportation In order to establish a comprehensive approach to project oversight, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FHWA, to develop an overall plan for its oversight initiatives that is tied to its goals and measures, along with priorities and time frames, and that includes workforce planning efforts that support these goals and measures.
Closed – Implemented
FHWA's fiscal year 2009 strategic implementation plan contains an overall plan for its oversight initiatives that includes goals and performance measures, along with strategies and time frames for achieving the goals. In addition, FHWA's longer-term strategic plan includes four goals associated with workforce issues, one of which specifically addresses workforce planning issues. Also, the fiscal year 2009 plan has a workforce goal that the plan calls for meeting by managing the agency's resources strategically to increase flexibility in achieving critical goals.
Department of Transportation In order to establish a comprehensive approach to project oversight, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FHWA, to improve the use and performance of project oversight managers by centrally defining their role and responsibilities.
Closed – Implemented
In July 2005, FHWA centrally defined the role, responsibilities, performance objectives, and required skills of major project oversight managers in an agency policy document that it distributed to its division offices.
Department of Transportation In order to establish a comprehensive approach to project oversight, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FHWA, to develop the capability to track and measure costs over the life of projects to help identify the extent of and reasons for problems, target resources, and transfer lessons learned.
Closed – Not Implemented
In its October 2005 "60 Day" letter, DOT stated that it does not intend to implement this recommendation.

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Topics

Best practicesBest practices methodologyCost analysisFederal aid for highwaysFederal fundsstate relationsLessons learnedPerformance measuresProgram evaluationState-administered programsProgram goals or objectives