DOT Organizational Assessment of OST-R
The National Academy of Public Administration (the Academy) contracted with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to assess the organization of Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R) and the opportunities and challenges presented by its proposed transfer to Office of the Under Secretary for Policy (S3). The Academy agreed to provide a high-level assessment including three distinct scope elements (listed in order of priority):
- identify opportunities to improve the capacity to coordinate research across DOT, with a focus on strengthening the Annual Modal Research Plan (AMRP) process, including opportunities to obtain and make available more and better information on the research portfolios of DOT’s modal operating administrations and tracking performance of research;
- better communicate what products the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) produces, for whom, and why; their production schedules; and their release processes; and
- better communicate the core activities of the Office of Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) and Spectrum Management, and their relationship to DOT mission responsibilities and priorities.
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Project OverviewClick the button below to view the Final Report.
Final ReportKey Findings and Recommendations
Research Coordination:
OST leaders struggled with finding a balance between obtaining enough detail to assess portfolios while not being overwhelmed by it. The direct engagement of OST leaders in the comprehensive review of modal research portfolios has been necessary and beneficial and but continued direct engagement will require additional actions.
Recommendations:
- 2.1: OST leaders should gradually delegate responsibility for the review of modal research programs to modal leaders.
- 2.2: OST leaders should focus on a small number of cross modal, DOT priorities to enable the detailed review of modal research activities necessary to develop strategies, monitor progress, and identify needed intervention to achieve success.
- 2.3: OST leaders should work collaboratively with the modes with careful attention to modal incentives to promote more consistent, higher quality reporting within the Research Hub of project-level information needed to support the review of modal research programs and to document the results of DOT-funded research. Some high-level info on the findings and recommendations
Office of Positioning, Navigation, Timing and Spectrum Management:
In recent years, the Office of PNT and Spectrum Management (SM) has been obliged to focus its limited staff and resources on spectrum management issues. One of OPNTSM's major responsibilities is the development of requirements or capabilities to backup and address the gaps in the current satellite-based GPS system.
Recommendations:
- 3.1: OST leaders should assess the resources required to address PNT needs across DOT, including staff capacity.
- 3.2: The Office of PNT and Spectrum Management should remain in OST-R.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS):
BTS administers data collection, analysis and reporting. Programs work to produce over 100 products and services annually. OST leaders expressed the value of timeliness and transparency in BTS’s data production process, recognizing the need to ensure data is always credible and trustworthy. The quality assurance on data from the modal administrations and agencies hinders the timeliness of BTS’s data production and solutions are needed to balance the requirements for both speed and accuracy of processes.
Recommendations:
4.1: BTS should exercise its cross-modal authority to get modes to follow quality assurance standards.
4.2: BTS needs to work with OST leaders to identify research to be undertaken with big data/real time data and develop a strategy for building capabilities that BTS needs.
4.3: BTS should notify OST leaders and other stakeholders when publishing data and reports, and develop a communication strategy.
