Transportation infrastructure : review of project selection process for five FHWA discretionary programs

PDFResearch Paperhttp://ntl.bts.gov/lib/22000/22400/22492/ADA332633.pdfGAO/RCED-98-14Project managementGovernment fundingUnited States. General Accounting OfficeUnited States. Government Accountability OfficeNTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-PLANNING AND POLICYNTL-ECONOMICS AND FINANCE-FundingUS Transportation CollectionDOT uses a two-phase process for selecting and funding transportationprojects for the five discretionary programs we reviewed. In the firstphase, FHWA program staff in the field and headquarters compile andevaluate the applications that states submit for discretionary funding.Program staff screen the applications by applying eligibility criteriaestablished by statute or administratively. On the basis of written criteria,program staff group the projects into four categories that range in priorityfrom most promising to not qualified and submit the groupings to theOffice of the Administrator. The submission to the Office of theAdministrator provides information on each candidate project, data ondiscretionary funds that each state received during prior years, and thecurrent level of congressional interest. In the second phase, the Office ofthe Administrator uses the information submitted by the program staff, aswell as other factors, to evaluate the projects and make the finalselections. According to FHWA\ue2\u20ac\u2122s Acting Deputy Administrator, the Office ofthe Administrator has tried to ensure that the dollars are spread fairlyamong all the states and that the interests of Members of Congress areaddressed. In contrast to the analyses that the program staff complete inthe first phase, the Office of the Administrator does not document thefactors it uses to select the final projects or its rationale for making thefinal selections