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**State of the Center Address**

**John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center**

**Research and Innovative Technology Administration**

**Dr. Curtis J. Tompkins, Director**

**Client-Training User Group Meeting**

**October 26, 2006**

Thank you Olive and Sylvia for your continued commitment to CTUG -- an
outstanding example of an employee led initiative. Last year CTUG
provided a forum for twenty speakers, and welcomed nearly 500
participants to their events, including a special series on the avian
flu pandemic and transportation impacts.

I appreciate this opportunity to share some thoughts about the State of
the Center as we begin a new fiscal year. Many of you were here last
Friday when we discussed the Center's plans for FY 07 - 08 and beyond.
The Center's Points of Pride for the past fiscal year were also
distributed at that time. If you did not receive the Points of Pride,
Lynn Murray will be happy to give you a copy or you can download it from
our intranet.

I mentioned the Points of Pride at the beginning of my talk last Friday
and here again today, because the solid accomplishments that so many of
you contributed during FY 06 made it a very successful year for the
Center. Your dedication to making a difference by identifying and
enabling creative and practical responses to the full range of our
customers' needs is inspiring.

***Changes in Leadership at All Levels***

As we look back over the past 12 months, we can recall a busy year in
which progress was made, challenges were met, and changes occurred.

We celebrated the Center's 35^th^ anniversary, beginning with a visit by
DOT's new Deputy Secretary Maria Cino in early October 2005 at which
time we unveiled our retrospective exhibit in the cafeteria, capturing
35 years of the Center's significant projects. The 35^th^ anniversary
was capped off by an uplifting visit on June 5, by Norman Mineta, our
Nation's longest serving Secretary of Transportation. Earlier in the
year, Secretary Mineta signed an Order officially approving the Volpe
Center's reorganized structure. Two weeks after being here, Secretary
Mineta informed President Bush that he would like to retire in July. I
am so glad he had the opportunity to address Volpe Center staff and talk
about the many historic and recent contributions of the Volpe Center.

FY 06 was also the first full year in the life of the new Research and
Innovative Technology Administration, RITA. Dr. Ashok Kaveeshwar, RITA's
first Administrator, and Eric Peterson, RITA's first Deputy
Administrator, departed in August 2006. This summer, John Bobo was
appointed RITA Deputy Administrator and Acting Administrator by
then-Acting Secretary of Transportation Maria Cino, who stepped up when
Secretary Mineta left.

Prior to leading RITA, John Bobo served for 2 ½ years on the Secretary's
leadership team. He has gained traction in his RITA responsibilities at
a remarkable pace and is clearly supportive of the Volpe Center. In
mid-September, during one of his early visits to the Center, John Bobo
helped us celebrate NAGE's 36^th^ anniversary at an excellent picnic
under sunny skies.

As FY 06 was drawing to a close, President Bush nominated Mary Peters to
be Secretary of Transportation. Having served as head of the Federal
Highway Administration, Secretary Peters has begun her tenure with
reassuring confidence and clarity of purpose. She has articulated three
primary themes: Safe Transportation, 21^st^ Century Solutions for 21^st^
Century Problems, and Cross-Modal Approaches to Congestion Mitigation.
The Volpe Center resonates very well with those themes.

The Volpe Center experienced several leadership changes as well during
FY 06. Ned Keeler and Kelly Leone were appointed Office Directors, Bob
Dorer was appointed Deputy Office Director, and eight new division
chiefs were named during FY 06. The new division chiefs include Anne
Aylward, Eric Frykenberg, Glenn Goulet, Kevin Green, Steve Popkin, Sari
Radin, Rachel Winkeller, and Don Wright. Sue Connors succeeded Jeanne
Fuller as Chief of Staff, and Mike Dinning became the Center's first
Executive Director of Business Development. Also critical was the hiring
of 24 non-supervisory staff plus 24 new COOPs.

The Center also inaugurated its first Pre-Leadership Program with 12
GS-12/13 participants from across the Center. The goal of the Program is
to provide developmental experiences for mid-level employees designed to
increase their interest in and readiness for progressively responsible
leadership roles or positions.

This year, three recipients were named to receive the prestigious John
A. Volpe Transportation Internship. This is yet another way we are
preparing transportation leaders of tomorrow.

***Emphasis on Engaging Everyone in the Center's Continuing
Improvement***

The Center has also made important strides in engaging the entire Volpe
community to continuously improve itself internally.

For example, a seven-person Human Capital Advisory Group, HCAG, was
established jointly by NAGE and the Center's Executive Council in
January, to recommend strategies to engage the Center's staff in
determining and implementing ways to improve organizational performance.

Fifty percent of our Federal employees participated in a HCAG's "Human
Capital Survey," focused on leadership and communication, work
environment and operations, performance culture, job satisfaction, and
career development and training. Last month, you were informed about the
survey results and an intranet site was launched to monitor progress.

The HCAG will hold focus groups next month to follow up on the highest
priority issues identified by the survey. One especially important
aspect of this initiative is our collective commitment to foster regular
candid communications throughout the Center.

Last week's meeting to discuss the Center's strategic framework and the
divisional and directorate meetings on that topic are additional
examples of efforts to engage each of us in the Center's continuing
improvement.

It is my hope that internal communications will improve and more robust
discussions on new initiatives will occur when we begin using the CAFÉ
communication method.

Next month, you will have a chance to experience this concept first-hand
in the directorate-level CAFÉ sessions. During these sessions, you'll
address several questions, such as: What can I do as an individual to
ensure the success of the Strategic Framework and Business Plan? At the
end of the sessions, you will develop action items and recommendations.
By the end of November, every person in the Center will have had a
chance to provide some input to this discussion.

I will be interested in your feedback on this form of communication. One
of my goals this year is to continually improve internal communication
at the Center. With your ideas and suggestions, we can go a long way
toward that goal.

***Clarity of Center Vision, Mission and Goals***

Continuing improvement will be accomplished in the context of clarity of
vision, mission and goals through action plans that have responsibility
assignments that are incorporated in performance plans, specific
deliverables and time lines. Ours is not a pretty planning document that
will sit on a shelf and gather dust or just take up file space on our
computers. But, for it to succeed, it must involve all of us making it a
"living document."

With those things having been said, let's look at some of the Center's
accomplishments and challenges during the past 12 months.

***Financial***

Some of our key metrics ended up exceeding expectations. For example, it
was one of our best years in terms of New Obligation Authority, \$ 262
million.

However, FY 06 finances started out a lot less promising than that.  In
the first quarter we had several key people retire, no new hiring,
unexpected increases in energy costs, and bigger assessments from DOT
headquarters for mandatory information systems.    If the attrition and
no hiring trends continued, our labor and acquisitions overhead rates
were projected to zoom upward.

This situation coupled with increased Federal appropriations being
directed primarily toward defense and homeland security priorities was,
to put it mildly, worrisome.

These facts required adjustments and belt-tightening. Employees who were
Volpe indirect-funded support contractors were let go by their firms
because IT, security, logistics, and other services had to be cut.
Managers worked hard to lower stand-by labor time and to increase our
direct labor base through aggressive recruiting.

Our fast actions reaped essential results. There was significant
improvement on three fronts: indirect costs were reduced by \$2.6
million, stand-by costs were reduced by 45%; and, direct hiring was
increased.   While nine fewer labor years were delivered in FY 06 than
in FY 05, the labor-year trend is now upward.   

We prevented our overhead rates from increasing and ended the year with
a \$1.7 million surplus which was recently returned to the projects. 
Our carryover of funding into FY 07 was \$230 million, representing
about 12 months of work.  The willingness of customers to support us at
this impressive level speaks highly of the work you do and of our
commitment to serve them and the Nation. 

I recognize the need to continue to find new ways to apply the Volpe
Center's outstanding capabilities to the Nation's transportation
challenges. To this end, we have more than doubled funding in the FY 07
indirect budget for business development.  This will help us find work
for our existing staff and grow in areas most important to the Nation's
future transportation needs.

I am confident that our strong financial base will help us achieve our
provisional rates, deliver quality service from the indirect sector, and
generate a modest rebate to our customers at the end of the year.

***Customer Satisfaction***

In October 2005, the Volpe Center embarked on its third round of
customer satisfaction surveying. An independent contractor interviewed
all active customers, primarily face-to-face at both the project-level
and senior-level of the customer organization. To date, 188 interviews
have been conducted using structured survey instruments.

Overall customer satisfaction survey results exceeded expectations, with
an overall score of 8.4 compared to a goal of achieving better than 7.0.
In addition, Volpe staff earned the highest scores with 8.7 for
availability, 8.8 for competence and 8.9 for its working relationships
with our customers!

Most customers saw Volpe as a good value with reasonable rates. All
customers were able to articulate how we contributed to their success.
And, our customers told us that the number one reason they come to the
Volpe Center is to have access to quality staff and technical expertise.

As expected and desired, our customers suggested some areas for
improvement. They would like more frequent and effective communication
of project progress and costs. They would also like more interaction
with Volpe Center executives. Both of these opportunities for
improvement are highlighted in our business plan.

***Direct-Funded Projects and Programs***

The Center's financial and customer satisfaction results are obviously
due to the effective efforts that each of you made in your projects and
programs, including support provided by our acquisitions, finance, HR,
IT, facilities, program support, safety, security and administrative
services staff. Our Points of Pride for FY 06 highlights about a hundred
examples that we can brag about.

Project excellence will be a prime focus at the Center's annual awards
program on Wednesday, December 20. And the 39^th^ Annual Secretary's
Awards Ceremony on November 29 in DC will undoubtedly include
recognition of several of you.

The results of some of the Volpe Team's work earned national headlines
this past year.

The Crash Energy Management program received national coverage of the
successful, first of its kind, full-scale train-to-train test of
specially modified rail cars at the Transportation Technical Center in
Pueblo, Colorado, in March.

This year's high visibility Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
rulemakings, heavily supported by a Volpe team, were crucial to NHTSA's
regulatory objectives. The Volpe team's credible and objective high
quality analytical work, performed under intense time pressure was
recognized at the highest levels of DOT.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Volpe Center staff deployed
immediately to Louisiana to play key roles in providing transportation
services. Soon, we were called upon again to help orchestrate planning
and executing evacuations in the face of Hurricane Rita's 28-foot storm
surge. When the storms subsided, we were called upon to serve as the DOT
coordinator of FEMA's Long-Term Community Recovery program,
demonstrating an ability to provide intermodal transportation support to
the hurricane response effort and to assist governments at all levels as
they seek to be better prepared to respond in the future.

With runway safety dominating the front pages of the paper this summer,
the Center continued to work toward reducing future runway incursions
and was an integral part of the FAA team to install and integrate Runway
Status Lights with airport surface radar and airport operations. This
program implements NTSB's number one recommendation to prevent
incursions.

When the Center deployed ETMS version 8.2 in June, a new Airspace Flow
Program was introduced that allows air traffic controllers to delay only
those flights that are expected to encounter extremely bad weather. This
minimizes the crippling effects of sudden thunderstorms that affect the
Nation's airspace system during the summer when travel volume is at its
peak.

On another front -- DOT now looks to RITA and the Volpe Center to lead
the National Positioning Navigation and Timing, PNT, Architecture effort
on behalf of the Department and the entire civil community. PNT services
are critical to the transportation infrastructure and involve
cross-cutting technology that supports multi-modal applications.

This year, the Center played a key role, in support of the Maritime
Administration's decommissioning of the world's first nuclear-powered
merchant ship, the Savannah.

Our FY 06 efforts to develop a Maritime Domain Awareness network for the
U.S. Navy Sixth Fleet will lead to a comprehensive vessel traffic
situational awareness picture of Automatic Identification System (AIS)
equipped vessel traffic in the Fleet's European Command area of
responsibility.

With global warming unquestionably emerging as a critical issue for our
society, the Volpe Center continued to support DOT's Center for Climate
Change and Environmental Forecasting, and led efforts to develop a new
Strategic Plan for the Climate Change Center. The strategy promotes
comprehensive multimodal approaches to transportation-related climate
change issues and puts the Department at the forefront of these issues.

While these illustrations are knock-your-socks-off impressive, I
recognize that much of the outstanding work of the Volpe Center is
accomplished away from the public eye but is nevertheless vital to
significant improvement of the Nation's transportation systems.

***Excellent Administrative Systems Support***

These and hundreds of other direct-funded projects have been
accomplished for our customers with excellent administrative systems
support.

The last  three quarters of FY 06 were a far cry from the bleak days of
2004-2005 when the Center was caught up in a hiring freeze on GS-14 or
higher positions imposed on all of RITA by  DOT's former Chief of Staff,
 John Flaherty.  This freeze, and the mandatory introduction of
so-called "Quick Hire" processes, caused us to have a backlog of 18
vacant leadership positions.   

Today, we are in a far better position to do the work we have, get new
work, and hire talented staff to fill existing vacancies and cover
normal attrition.  Our projected workload in FY07 will require another
strong year of hiring.

In addition, this year the Center received increased delegation of
authority in the areas of human resources, security, invitational travel
and acquisition. External reviews by the Office of the Inspector
General, the Small Business Administration, the Office of Personnel
Management, and the Office of the Secretary helped convince RITA that
the Volpe Center pays close attention to the letter and spirit of the
Federal regulations under which we must operate. These new delegated
authorities mean we can approve more actions locally which means quicker
turnaround and less frustration for all of us.

***Unfunded Support to DOT and RITA***

Throughout FY 06, the Volpe Center responded to requests for unfunded
quick-response assistance from the RITA Administrator and the Office of
the Secretary.

With the start-up of RITA, there were numerous requests from the
Secretary's Office and RITA related to the new organization, its future
direction, and its activities. For example, the Volpe Center provided
leadership and key technical support to RITA in the development of its
first strategic plan.

The Center also provided additional support to the Department's
development of emerging priorities related to technology for inclusion
in the RD&T Report to Congress.

In an effort aimed at relieving bottlenecks and reducing delays, the
Department rolled out a National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on
America's Transportation Network. The Volpe Center was instrumental in
supporting this Secretarial initiative by staffing each subcommittee,
writing and reviewing white papers and developing presentations.

In response to a personal request from Deputy Secretary Cino, we helped
DOT respond to the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza and assisted
with drafting the Department's pandemic strategy.

***Clarity about the Appropriateness of Contributions to Our Nation's
Transportation Systems, Beyond the DOT***

In 2004, DOT's Inspector General questioned whether the Volpe Center's
scope should include non-DOT work. The unequivocal answer is yes, the
Volpe Center has a critical role in serving as one of the Department's
vital bridges to the broader transportation community. However, we must
ensure our non-DOT sponsored work is transportation-related, has
relevance to DOT, and does not detract from our ability to address DOT's
needs.

In 2006, over 30% of our obligations were made on behalf of our non-DOT
sponsors, and I anticipate this percentage will continue to grow since
there are so many organizations outside of DOT tasked with components of
the nation's overall transportation mission. Deputy Secretary Cino
especially encouraged us to seek sponsorship from DHS and DOD.

***Visits By Congressional Staff***

Two delegations of Congressional staff members visited the Center this
summer, and we expect other Congressional staff members to visit us on
December 7. In mid-August, we were visited by several key House and
Senate staffers interested in surface transportation issues. John Bobo
joined us for the second visit in late August during which Senate and
House Appropriations staff received an overview of the Volpe Center and
its major programs.

Both visits went very well. I was impressed by the sincere interest,
energy and enthusiasm shown by the Congressional staff members during
their visit. Their reactions were very positive, and they left with a
much better understanding of our contributions to the Department and the
broader transportation community. As RITA develops appreciation and
support on Capitol Hill, the Volpe Center will gain increased
visibility.

***International Opportunities***

It remains clear that the Center continues to play an important role as
one of DOT's critical conduits to the broader transportation community
internationally.

This year, we hosted senior officials from the People's Republic of
China, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland and Japan. We also
hosted critical multilateral discussions related to fully understanding
the wake-turbulence characteristics of the Airbus A380. We signed an
updated Memorandum of Cooperation with the Transport Research Centre of
the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management in the
Netherlands; that new agreement will ensure even greater collaboration
between our two centers.

There are currently many activities percolating that build upon some of
our solid international project work. Together, these opportunities
could lead to strengthened applications of the Center's capabilities in
the international arena.

DOT's strategies to address international transportation issues and
networks in the global economy have two synergistic thrusts.  One is
directed toward opening international transportation markets; the other
is directed toward improving essential, intermodal transportation
linkages.  Both are needed to achieve outcomes that will yield better
global connectivity and a more competitive and efficient global
marketplace. 

The Volpe Center is well positioned to support DOT's role of promoting
more efficient international transportation systems and improved global
connectivity.  And the number of projects and initiatives with
international implications is definitely on the rise.

For example, we are fostering the improvement and growth of aviation
internationally, which is expected to bring economic and political
benefits to the United States. We have a delegation in Brazil, helping
to develop that nation's capability to use satellite navigation. We also
have employees in East Africa, helping Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda to
implement Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS-B) for
aircraft surveillance rather than significantly more expensive radar
systems.

Many of our staff are recognized internationally and because of them the
Center has visibility around the world. For example, a Volpe Center
staff member is considered an international expert on the topic of
tire/pavement noise and quieter pavements and has been invited by the
Dutch and Danish governments to be a keynote speaker and to represent
the USA during upcoming technical discussions. 

 

We should also take particular pride in the FY 06 adoption of a new
international standard for computing over-ground propagation of sound
from aircraft. That SAE standard resulted from eight years of Volpe
Center research.  This was high impact work in terms of insulation
programs around airports globally. 

***Employees' Sense of Commitment and Public Service***

It is gratifying to realize that our employees' sense of commitment and
public service extends beyond their official employment at the Center.
Many of you have demonstrated your willingness to respond to the needs
of others whether it be to assist the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita or participate in the annual Combined Federal Campaign. Last year,
82 percent of the Center's employees donated over \$123,000 to the CFC.
As we heard at our CFC kickoff earlier in the week, we hope to surpass
those amounts in this year's campaign -- I imagine you are intrigued by
the "salsa challenge," and I encourage you to join me in supporting the
CFC.

The Volpe Center community continues to be involved in several education
outreach efforts where staff volunteer significant time, expertise and
care in the Kendall Square Learning Project, in Lunch Buddies, in the
Science Olympiad at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, and in
the Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic program where they read and
record books.

***In Conclusion***

The credit for the good things that occurred in FY 06 is attributable to
you. Your thoughts and actions added real value to the Center's efforts
to improve our Nation's transportation systems. Your effective
relationships with our customers resulted in high customer satisfaction
ratings and record new obligation authority numbers. Your initiatives
resulted in new opportunities for the Center.

As we move into this new fiscal year, I look forward to working with you
to improve our internal communications and business processes, and to
support the Center's goals.

Our vision is to be the leading Federal Center of Excellence in
innovative transportation systems solutions; our mission is to improve
our Nation's transportation systems. In pursuit of that vision and
driven by that mission, I am dedicated to work closely with you.

I would now be happy to hear your suggestions, comments and questions.