Motor Carrier Academy

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Federal Highway Administration's (FHwA) plan to move the H. David Howard Motor Carrier Academy to northern Virginia in January 1995. GAO noted that: (1) FHwA believes that the proposed move will foster better management control, improve curriculum development, and save FHwA $300,000 during the first 3 years following the move; (2) the costs for relocating the Academy are uncertain and could range between a savings of $8,600 or cost up to $931,400; (3) the costs of the Academy's relocation depend primarily on FHwA ability to secure and retain a hotel contract that reduces travel costs for Academy participants significantly below the official government per diem rate for the Washington, D.C. area; (4) FHwA and the Transportation Safety Institute (TSI) disagree on the financial impact of the Academy's relocation; (5) TSI believes that the proposed relocation does not conform with FHwA emphasis on intermodalism; and (6) FHwA should consider nonfinancial issues in its relocation decision.