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Transportation Infrastructure: FHWA Should Assess and Compare the Benefits of Projects When Awarding Discretionary Grants

RCED-99-263 Published: Sep 24, 1999. Publicly Released: Sep 24, 1999.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Federal Highway Administration's (FHwA) selection process for awarding discretionary grants, focusing on: (1) determining how FHwA has implemented the requirements specified in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21); and (2) comparing the results of the selection process for fiscal years (FY) 1998-1999 with the results of the selection process for FY 1995 through FY 1997 that GAO previously reported on.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Transportation Given that states' requests for federal discretionary funding greatly exceed available funds, a grant process that measures, compares, and assesses the transportation benefits of projects would help ensure that FHwA funds projects with the greatest transportation benefits. Accordingly, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FHwA, to develop the necessary process and criteria to measure, compare, and assess the transportation benefits of projects before making grant selections as outlined in Executive Order 12893 and emphasized in TEA-21. As a starting point, FHwA should examine the process used by its own Discretionary Bridge Program office as well as other operating administrations within the Department of Transportation to learn how they developed their processes.
Closed – Not Implemented
In November 1999, DOT submitted its 60-day letter to OMB and the Congress indicating that it agreed with GAO's recommendation and that current FHWA procedures already address the recommendation. The agency's position is the same as it was during the time of GAO's review. During its review, GAO determined that FHWA's procedures did not assess the relative merits of discretionary transportation projects. In the report, GAO clearly indicated that FHWA's process was not sufficient for identifying and funding the most meritorious transportation projects. The agencies response shows no indication that it plans to make substantive changes to its process for awarding discretionary grants in response to GAO's recommendation.

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Topics

Comparative analysisDiscretionary grantsEligibility criteriaFederal aid for highwaysGrant administrationPublic roads or highwaysStatistical dataAviation infrastructurePublic landsShips