Points of Pride

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

Fiscal Year 2005

U.S. Department of Transportation

Research and Innovative Technology Administration
Table of

Contents

From the Director page 2

Safety 3

Aviation 3

Rail 4

Transit 5

Motor Vehicle 5

Motor Carrier 6

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 8

Mobility 9 

Global Connectivity 13

Environmental Stewardship 15

Security 18

Organizational Excellence 21

Strategic Management of Human Capital 21

Competitive Sourcing 23

Budget and Performance Integration 23

E-government 25

Financial Performance 26

Volpe Center Clients, Fiscal Year 2005 27 
As the John A. Volpe National Transportation

Systems Center celebrates its 35th year of service to 

the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Nation,

it is fitting to view a cross-section of the Center’s 

contributions during the past 12 months and thereby

gain a sense of the breadth, the depth of impact, and

the value delivered by the Volpe Center. 

This compilation of fiscal year 2005 accomplishments illustrates the Volpe Center’s vital role as a

unique Federal resource within the Department’s

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

(RITA) — an organization that continues to earn

respect and appreciation from its clients and stakeholders across all modes of transportation.

Each accomplishment is aligned with the

Department’s strategic national transportation goals: 

safety, security, mobility, global connectivity, environmental stewardship or the Federal government’s 

principle management objective of achieving 

organizational excellence. For the purpose of this 

document, activities are listed under one strategic 

area; however, many projects, programs and initiatives

benefit the objectives of more than one national 

goal. The Center is committed to helping its clients

achieve these goals through safer, simpler, and smarter

transportation solutions. 

The Points of Pride identified in this document

exemplify the Volpe Center’s tradition of providing outstanding support to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), other organizations in the Executive

Branch, and the broader transportation community.

Curtis J. Tompkins

Points of Pride

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

Fiscal Year 2005

From the Director

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 2
Aviation Safety 

Runway Incursion Severity Calculation Model 

On average, one runway incursion occurs per day and one

close call occurs every ten days. The Volpe Center, on behalf of

the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has developed the

Runway Incursion Severity Categorization model to classify the

severity of runway incursions. The model is a computer-based

“expert system” designed to provide an objective rating of each

runway incursion. Objective data and some category judgments

about incursion scenarios and other factors are fed into the

computer by airport controllers and quality assurance personnel. The computer generates a rating using algorithms based on

look-up table constraints and factor weightings. This system is

meant to augment current FAA committee reviews and voting

procedures. Currently, FAA, as well as Australian, the United

Kingdom, and the International Civil Aviation Organization

(ICAO) agencies are evaluating the model. It is being considered as an international tool for the global standardization of

the severity of runway incursions. (Sponsored by FAA)

Runway Status Lights at San Diego 

International Airport

In March 2005, the Volpe Center completed installation of

Runway Status Lights (RWSL) at San Diego Inter-national

Airport. The RWSL will play a major part in reducing future

runway incursions, the FAA’s number one safety priority. The

RWSL are installed at critical airport runway intersections and

will provide pilots with an indication of runway occupancy. The

lights are directly driven by airport surface radar and address a

National Transportation Safety Board call for a positive indication of runway occupancy to air crews, independent of air traffic

control. The Volpe Center was an integral part of the FAA team

to integrate the lights with airport surface radar and airport

operations. An operational evaluation of the RWSL at San 

Diego International Airport will commence in FY 2006.

(Sponsored by FAA)

Aircraft Repair Station Safety Risk Model

The Volpe Center developed and released major enhancements to the Safety Performance Analysis System (SPAS) that

provide FAA inspectors worldwide with critical analytical capabilities needed to assess the safety performance of airline maintenance contractors. The new capabilities address FAA safety priorities stemming from the fatal Air Midwest airline crash in 2003

where contract aircraft maintenance was identified as a major

factor in the crash. They also correct deficiencies in FAA

processes that were cited by the DOT’s Office of the Inspector

General in investigations of FAA repair station oversight. Major

enhancements to the SPAS Repair Station Analysis Model and

the Contractor section of the Air Operator Profile now provide

the FAA with effective tools for monitoring and assessing the

safety risk of contract aircraft repair stations. This is increasingly

important because most airlines are now using these stations

through outsourcing arrangements to repair and maintain their

aircraft. The task was completed concurrently with the transition

of SPAS system operations from the Volpe Center to the FAA's

DOT Strategic Goal

Safety

Enhance public health and safety by working toward the elimination of

transportation-related deaths and injuries

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 3
computer operations center in Oklahoma City. By completing

the development of the SPAS repair station analysis capabilities

while successfully transitioning the operations to the FAA, the

Volpe Center has helped the FAA meet its strategic goals of

increasing safety while reducing operational costs. (Sponsored 

by FAA)

East Coast Deployment of Automatic Dependent

Surveillance-Broadcast

During FY 2005, the Volpe Center conducted site surveys

and installations at twelve sites of the FAA Safe Flight 21

Program’s East Coast Network of Automatic Dependent

Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) ground-based transceivers

(GBTs). The East Coast ADS-B Network GBTs provide uplinks of

surveillance data for local traffic and regional flight information

services (weather and Notices to Airmen) to general aviation aircraft. The East Coast GBT network represents the first U.S.

installation of ADS-B ground stations. It is a demonstration of

the key surveillance technology that will permit a movement

away from expensive ground-based radar and toward a spacebased National Airspace System (NAS) infrastructure. The

space-based NAS-infrastructure is the key to the Joint Program

Development Office’s Next Generation Air Transportation

System vision for the 2025 NAS. (Sponsored by FAA)

Aviation Safety Technology Assessment

September 30, 2005, marks the end of National Aeronautic

and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) five-year effort to develop

and demonstrate technologies that contribute to a reduction in

the aviation fatal accident rate by a factor of five. The NASA

Aviation Safety and Security Program is currently wrapping up

their research efforts and focusing on implementation of their

safety technologies. For the past four years, the Volpe Center has

been working with NASA and helping with technology assessment by conducting cost/benefit analyses. The safety technologies encompass a wide range of technologies that require both

public and private investment. The Volpe Center has been working closely with government and private industry in efforts to

identify the public need and to gain industry acceptance. This

year marked the completion of three technology concept of

operation workshops hosted by NASA to present the final safety

technologies, the safety benefits of the technologies, and the

additional operational improvements to the airlines. Attendance

at the workshops included representatives from the Air

Transport Association, Airline Pilots Association, Flight Safety

Foundation, Boeing Commercial, Rockwell Collins, Honeywell,

Gulfstream, American Airlines, US Airways, United Airlines,

Northwest, Alaska/Frontier, JetBlue, AirTran, Southwest, Federal

Express, the United Parcel Service, and the U.S. Departments of

Commerce, Defense and Transportation. (Sponsored by NASA)

Novel Approach to Driving Simulation

The Volpe Center demonstrated a cost-effective means to

test human drivers for research and training that provides perfect motion sensation and at the same time exposes drivers to

sudden unexpected collision hazards. This is accomplished by

having the driver drive an actual vehicle in an obstacle-free environment where the driver's frontal view is a high-resolution projection from a video camera. The collision hazard is a computer

generated virtual object (e.g., other vehicle or pedestrian) that is

superposed on the video scene and is visually aligned with the

actual roadway and moving independently of the driven vehicle.

This approach can be used in lieu of current motion-based driving simulators that cost $10-80 million and, even at that price,

do not provide perfect motion sensation. NASA supported this

work because of its interest in helping airport tower controllers

identify aircraft on taxiways and ramps by superposing text or

symbolic information on the actual view (through binoculars or

a video display). (Sponsored by NASA)

Rail Safety 

Acela Express Disk Brakes

In April 2005, cracks were discovered in the disk brakes on

Acela Express coach cars in service in the Northeast Corridor.

After determining that the cracks existed in more than one

train, Amtrak removed the Acela Express fleet from service.

Cracks were occurring in the spokes of the disks after as little as

200,000 miles of operation. The Volpe Center has been assisting

the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Amtrak in

assessing the cracked spoke problem and identifying possible

causes. In addition, the new disk has been evaluated to determine whether the likely failure mode has been addressed.

Failures were related to a vibration of the disk excited by brake

applications and vertical bumps in the track at such appliances

inter-locking and insulated joints. These failures were similar to

a disk brake problem addressed 20 years ago with earlier Amtrak

equipment. (Sponsored by FRA)

Amtrak’s Passenger Accounting System

In investigating the derailment of Amtrak's Auto Train on

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 4
April 18, 2002, the National Transportation Safety Board

(NTSB) reported that an accurate count of persons on the train

at the time of the accident was unavailable. NTSB noted that

emergency response would be improved with accurate count

data at the accident scene and issued a Safety Recommendation

to the FRA that it develop and implement an accurate passenger

accounting system. At FRA’s request, the Volpe Center assessed

the weaknesses in Amtrak’s passenger accounting system, the

costs of improving it, and the potential safety and business benefits of an improved system. By working with emergency responders and Amtrak staff, the Volpe Center provided the FRA with

strong supporting documentation that could be used in its

response to NTSB: while technically feasible, the recommendation is impractical given Amtrak’s business model and would not

provide the desired safety benefits. Since the finding is contrary

to NTSB’s position, it was critical to solicit the views of many

stakeholders and integrate them into a comprehensive analysis

supporting the Volpe Center’s conclusions. To implement the

NTSB recommendation would take at least $40 million in capital costs and $7 million annual operating costs. The Volpe

Center work also identified alternative improvements to

Amtrak’s passenger accounting system that can be the basis for

future cost-effective Amtrak initiatives. (Sponsored by FRA)

Confidential Close Call Reporting System for Railroad

Industry

The DOT is working towards eliminating transportationrelated fatalities and injuries in the United States. Nearly all

transportation incidents are preceded by a chain of events or circumstances, any one of which might have prevented the accident if it had gone another way. In many of these cases, operators are aware of these “close calls” or “near misses” and may

have information that could prevent future mishaps. Volpe

Center staff worked with railroad industry stakeholders from the

FRA, railroad carriers, and labor organizations to develop a

demonstration program to evaluate the effectiveness of a close

call reporting system. Consensus among the key stakeholders

was critical to the project moving forward because a close call

system only succeeds when stakeholders volunteer information

about close call incidents. The development of this system will

enable the railroad industry to take action to prevent hazardous

events before they occur. (Sponsored by FRA)

Passenger Rail Equipment Crashworthiness

Last January, a serious accident occurred in Glendale,

California. The crash involved a collision of a commuter rail

train with a highway vehicle, the subsequent derailment, and

then a collision with a standing freight train and another moving commuter rail train. Immediately following the accident,

FRA deployed a Volpe Center team to Glendale to develop a

detailed accident reconstruction that was useful in determining

where improvements in car structures could have made a difference. The Volpe Center’s passenger rail equipment crashworthiness team had been developing alternative structural designs for

the FRA to substantially increase passenger and operator survivability by effectively managing the energy during collisions. The

team also developed several executive-level briefings that resulted in a request for assistance by Metrolink (the commuter rail

operating authority in greater Los Angeles), to include crash

energy management concepts in a planned procurement of new

equipment. The FRA views this request as an extremely important indicator of the program’s relevance and significance. The

American Public Transit Association has joined the effort to

make the crash energy management specifications broadly

accepted practice for all new rail car purchases. (Sponsored 

by FRA)

Transit Safety 

State Safety Oversight Program for the Federal Transit

Administration 

The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA’s) State Safety

Oversight Program for Rail Fixed Guideway Systems promotes

the use of management and engineering principles to identify

and resolve safety hazards and security vulnerabilities. This year,

the Volpe Center conducted safety and security readiness assessments in Salt Lake City, Utah; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and San

Juan, Puerto Rico. Federal legislation requires that all rail transit

systems develop safety plans that address security. For several

years, the Volpe Center has been lending assistance to the FTA

State Safety Oversight Program, and has created guidelines for

developing transit security procedures and programs. The

Center disseminates this guidance through a website, workshops, newsletters, and training courses. (Sponsored by FTA)

Motor Vehicle Safety

National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Study 

Congress mandated the National Highway Traffic Safety

Administration (NHTSA) to initiate a FY 2005 program to colJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 5
lect data on the causes of highway crashes and to make the data

available to the automobile industry and to researchers. This

effort was largely unprecedented since all previous NHTSA

crashworthiness work had been based on post-crash data rather

than on pre-crash causation data. The Volpe Center was responsible for developing the software and network that would allow

the causation data to be collected, analyzed and disseminated.

The challenge was to have the software and network available

for the planned start date for collection while the data requirements, and the coding and editing of that data continued to be

modified by NHTSA researchers and statisticians. By working

closely with NHTSA staff and working extra hours and weekends, the Volpe Center delivered the software in time for the

nationwide team of researchers to achieve their mandatory start

date. (Sponsored by NHTSA)

Rear-End Crash Avoidance System Evaluation

The Volpe Center has completed a five year program to

evaluate an automotive rear-end crash avoidance system for

NHTSA. This system is designed to prevent rear-end crashes of

which four million occur every year in the United States. Built

by General Motors and Delphi, this system alerts the driver to an

impending rear-end collision and provides adaptive cruise control capability that maintains preselected speed and headway.

The Volpe Center conducted an independent evaluation to estimate the safety benefits and determine driver acceptance of this

system. The Volpe Center broke new ground in conducting an

assessment of automotive safety technologies using limited field

operational test data. The Center developed new evaluation

frameworks, devised novel methodologies, and built various data

mining tools. National and international research organizations

have praised and adopted many of these developments. The

results of this evaluation showed that this system has the potential to prevent over 25 percent of rear-end crashes. Based on lessons learned, the Volpe Center made recommendations to the

DOT for improving future field operational tests of advanced

technology automotive safety systems being planned for the

Intelligent Transportation Systems program. (Sponsored by

NHTSA)

Child Safety in School Buses and Passenger Vehicles

This year, the Volpe Center collaborated with NHTSA to coauthor two papers: “Child Safety Research in School Buses,” and

“Child Safety in Light Vehicles.” The papers were delivered at

the 19th International Conference on the Enhanced Safety of

Vehicles in Washington, D.C. The conference was widely attended by industry, academia, and government officials from

Europe, Asia, and North America and was hosted by DOT

Secretary Norman Y. Mineta. The bi-annual conference provides

an international forum for research on motor vehicle safety. The

participants were able to discuss state-of-the-art research with

industrial, regulatory, and academic stakeholders from around

the world. (Sponsored by NHTSA)

Motor Carrier Safety 

SafeStat: A New Standard for Motor Carrier Safety

Measurement

In the late 1990s, the Volpe Center formulated, developed

and implemented improved processes for evaluating the safety

performance and compliance of interstate motor carriers for

the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and

the use of these processes in the implementation of its safety

improvement programs. The heart of these new processes is

SafeStat, an automated, data-driven algorithm that incorporates

safety data from multiple sources, measures the relative safety

status of individual motor carriers and prioritizes unsafe carriers

for FMCSA on-site compliance reviews, roadside inspections,

and enforcement. SafeStat was adopted by FMCSA for use

nationwide and has given the Volpe Center worldwide name

recognition in the area of motor carrier safety analysis and 

information systems. 

In FY 2005, the Volpe Center supported production of 

the monthly SafeStat results that direct the FMCSA’s major

enforcement programs and developed and implemented a

methodology to assess the effectiveness of the SafeStat algorithm

in identifying and ranking unsafe motor carriers. The methodology was employed to develop several major enhancements to

the algorithm and incorporate a new traffic violations indicator.

These changes improve effectiveness of the algorithm and the

consistency of the crash ratings among carriers. The SafeStat

enhancements were presented to and enthusiastically received

by the FMCSA Administrator, FMCSA senior staff, and field

enforcement staff. Ultimately, these enhancements will allow

FMCSA to more efficiently and effectively target its limited

resources as it moves toward achieving its goal of reducing the

large truck fatality rate. (Sponsored by FMCSA)

State-level Annual Safety Planning Support

State-level annual motor carrier safety plan preparation has

become one of the top initiatives for the FMCSA Administrator

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 6
and the Chief Safety Officer. FMCSA Division Administrators in

each state are now required to prepare an annual plan to

reduce truck-related crashes and fatalities to meet their share of

the DOT safety goal. In order to receive FMCSA grant funds, all

50 states are required to produce an annual statewide

Commercial Vehicle Safety Plan. 

In support of these requirements, the Volpe Center formed

a team that developed and piloted a four-step planning process,

including problem identification, countermeasure alternatives

and selection, implementation strategy, and results monitoring.

The team piloted the process and developed training on it with

three New England states and then conducted the training in all

FMCSA Service Center regions for all 50 FMCSA State Division

Offices and their state counterpart agencies. In developing the

training content, the Volpe Center showcased the Analysis &

Information (A&I) web-based analytical system — also developed and maintained by the Volpe Center for the FMCSA — as

an information resource. The Volpe Center team demonstrated

its interpersonal communication and analytical skills as well as

in-depth knowledge of FMCSA safety programs and operations.

For the first time, FMCSA has a consistent, comprehensive

approach to prioritizing their programs and assigning resources

at the state level and has the knowledge of the existing information sources needed to develop the plans. States also now have a

consistent framework for developing plans required by FMCSA.

(Sponsored by FMCSA)

Electronic On-Board Recorders Rulemaking Support

On July 16, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District

of Columbia Circuit vacated FMCSA's rules concerning hours of

service (HOS) for commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers.

Although the Court’s reasons were not directly related to vehicle

electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs), the Court required

FMCSA to collect and analyze data on the costs and benefits for

potentially mandating the use of EOBRs in lieu of handwritten

driver HOS logs. In September 2004, FMCSA issued an Advance

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for that purpose. Within an

extremely short time frame, the agency had to synthesize all

EOBR information and formulate recommendations on their

potential use in satisfying HOS recording requirements for a

new rule. Several issues required evaluation, such as the ability

of EOBRs to reliably identify individual drivers, to resist electronic and physical tampering, and to produce adequate records

for roadside inspection and audits, protection of proprietary

operational and personal information, carrier acquisition and

operating costs, and driver acceptability. The significant scope of

this rulemaking, potentially affecting thousands of CMVs and

drivers, made it an FMCSA priority. 

In October 2004, FMCSA requested the Volpe Center to

conduct the entire EOBR evaluation and produce findings by

March 15, 2005. An interdisciplinary team consisting of staff

from several Volpe Center technical divisions was formed and

tasked to perform the evaluation. Working closely with FMCSA,

a report, “Recommendations Regarding the Use of Electronic

On-Board Recorders (EOBRs) for Reporting Hours of Service

(HOS),” was produced and delivered on schedule. The FMCSA

project manager commended the Volpe Center on the systems

approach taken and on the quality and responsiveness of the

work. In addition, a third-party technical peer review by the

National Institute of Standards and Technology has confirmed

the quality and comprehensiveness of the effort. (Sponsored 

by FMCSA)

Motor Carrier Safety Knowledge Transfer Program

In the past year, the Volpe Center provided exceptional

leadership in its efforts to support the FMCSA’s Creating

Opportunities, Methods, and Processes to Secure Safety (COMPASS) program, which will modernize and streamline the

agency’s safety business processes. COMPASS will result in more

effectively and efficiently reaching the agency’s goal of reducing

highway fatalities due to truck and bus accidents. The knowledge base regarding safety information systems that are the core

elements of COMPASS reside at the Volpe Center, and the initial effort for this initiative involved an enormous amount of

knowledge transfer between the Volpe Center staff, their counterparts in FMCSA, and a new Systems Integrator. Nearly 300

technical documents were written in approximately six months.

These documents were stored and shared within the COMPASS

team using FMCSA’s Electronic Document Management System,

also developed by the Volpe Center. In addition, a COMPASS

Integration Environment was created to aid in the system development effort. FMCSA subsequently recognized this exceptional

effort by awarding each of the eight members of the Volpe

Center team with a ‘Special Act Award’ citing the “highest level

of professionalism, enthusiasm, and dedication” of the team

effort. This knowledge transfer activity led to the timely interaction of the FMCSA staff with the Systems Integrator and development activities to commence. (Sponsored by FMCSA)

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 7
Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety

Safety Monitoring and Reporting Tool for 

Pipeline Safety 

In July 2005, a user acceptance test was held at the Volpe

Center marking the completion of the start-up phase and the

release of the beta version of the Safety Monitoring and

Reporting Tool (SMART). SMART was developed by the Volpe

Center for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety

Administration’s Office of Pipeline Safety (PHMSA/OPS).

SMART provides a new enforcement application leveraging

workflow and lays the foundation for providing document management and query applications to access data originating within the Pipeline Incident Processing and Enforcement System

(PIPES) and Integrated Operator Compliance System (IOCS)

databases. SMART provides structure to the enforcement

process using workflow technology and standardizes headquarters and region best practices on enforcement activities. This

start-up capability enables OPS to use a variety of enforcement

tools more effectively, including some, such as compliance

orders, that require pipeline operators to correct underlying

safety violations. OPS may also impose monetary sanctions (civil

penalties) on pipeline operators for violations of its pipeline

safety regulations and SMART supports the tracking and collection of these penalties. SMART is a good example of the application of technology transfer within the Volpe Center. Much of the

technology, concepts, and design techniques used in SMART

were derived from current and former projects worked on by

the SMART development team. These include the FAA's Safety

Performance Analysis System (SPAS), DoD's Air Carrier Analysis

System (ACAS), and NHTSA's Artemis System. (Sponsored by

PHMSA)

Evaluating the Risk of Rail Transport of Hazardous

Materials 

The Volpe Center has been providing technical support to

the FRA in its Rail Equipment Safety Research Program for over

twenty years. One part of this research program is a project on

the Structural Integrity of Railroad Tank Cars. During the past

year, the Volpe Center has developed and is implementing a

research plan and assessment methodology to support the FRA

in evaluating the risk of rail transport of hazardous materials.

The work addresses safety recommendations made by the NTSB

regarding a train derailment and subsequent release of hazardous materials that occurred in Minot, North Dakota on

January 18, 2002. One of the primary focal points of this work is

the evaluation of the fracture toughness of the steels used in

cars built before 1989. The Volpe Center’s work on this project

began in March 2004, shortly after the NTSB released its investigation report on this accident. The plan addresses some of the

most complex issues in materials engineering, collision and

derailment dynamics, and risk management. (Sponsored by FRA)

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 8
The Enhanced Traffic Management System 

(ETMS) 8.0 

The Volpe Center’s FAA client described the operational

deployment of the ETMS version 8.0 on June 6, 2005, as “a

tremendous success.” The Center’s ETMS team was commended

for their “true professionalism and commitment over the longterm planning for this day.” One of the busiest days in the

spring 2005 air traffic season was June 6. ETMS is the center of

FAA’s traffic flow management infrastructure for Collaborative

Decision-Making between FAA and the National Airspace System

users. ETMS 8.0 required an enormous effort of porting the

Volpe Center’s Hubsite applications software to a new operating

system. In addition, FAA requested several new traffic management enhancements in ETMS 8.0. The deployment advanced

the Depart-ment’s strategic goals of mobility and safety because

hundreds of national air traffic management initiatives including ground delay programs, ground stops, and reroutes have

been handled smoothly since deployment of the new version of

ETMS. (Sponsored by FAA)

Modernization of the FAA’s Traffic Flow Management

(TFM) Infrastructure

The aging computers at the Volpe Center’s ETMS Hubsite

and over 77 FAA field sites were successfully transformed to new

state-of-the-art computers and telecommunications equipment

during FY 2005. The old computers, which had been acquired

in advance of Y2K, were over seven years old. They had been

routinely operating at over 90 percent and in some cases 100

percent capacity and had been unable to keep up with the

demand associated with increasing air traffic over the years. The

new technology represents an order of magnitude increase in

processing speed and provides significant capacity for future

growth in air traffic as the U.S. economy expands. The

spring/summer 2005 air traffic season has been the busiest period of air travel since 2000. Even on the busiest days this year, the

new technology at Volpe Center’s ETMS Hubsite is operating at

less than 20 percent capacity. The Volpe Center staff were 

key players in specification of the new technology, test, and

deployment. Volpe Center teams traveled to all 77 FAA field

sites for transition training for FAA staff around the country.

Since completion of the TFM Tech Refresh, users have been

effusive with praise for the performance of the new technology.

(Sponsored by FAA)

Expanded Volpe Center Role in New Traffic Flow

Management Modernization Program

In late FY 2004, FAA issued a new contract to develop the

next generation Traffic Flow Management Modernization

(TFMM) program. At the time, Volpe Center’s future role in

TFM was envisioned to be limited to modest enhancements and

maintenance of the legacy system and unspecified future

research tasks. As a result of the flexibility and value added

knowledge of the Volpe Center’s TFM team members, the

Center was called upon to provide several thoughtful analyses.

Important components of the Center’s work were well received

by the FAA’s TFMM Program Office. Now one year after TFMM

contract award, the Volpe team’s value to the TFMM program

has been recognized and the Center’s work in this important

DOT Strategic Goal

Mobility

Advance accessible, efficient, intermodal transportation for the

movement of people and goods

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 9
new initiative has been increased significantly. Active discussions

are underway about how to best integrate the Volpe Center’s

corporate knowledge and expertise in air traffic management

into the future air traffic management system. This turnaround

of business prospects is a positive reflection on the collective

knowledge, skill, and resilience of the Volpe Center’s TFM team.

(Sponsored by FAA)

Transition to Reduced Vertical Separation Minima

Completed 

The Volpe Center’s Enhanced Traffic Management System

(ETMS) team, on behalf of the FAA, successfully completed

transition to the new Reduced Vertical Separation Minima

(RVSM). As of January 20, air traffic controllers are allowed to

separate properly equipped aircraft by 1,000 feet vertically,

rather than the current 2,000 vertical foot restriction. The

RVSM applies to flights operating in altitudes between 29,000

and 41,000 feet. FAA reports that this will allow six new flight

levels, increasing air traffic capacity and saving airlines more

than $393 million a year in fuel. At the same time RVSM was initialized here, the new program went into effect for Canada,

Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America that rely on the

ETMS, hosted by Volpe. For a jet to be certified as RVSM-compliant, it must have two independent altimetry systems, an automatic altitude callout system, an altitude alert and a Mode 3A

transponder, as well as a version 7.0 or later traffic-alert and collision avoidance system. (Sponsored by FAA)

Surface Surveillance Information Management

The Volpe Center developed a database and network infrastructure to provide surface surveillance data to airlines and

R&D organizations. The surface surveillance data provides critical real-time aircraft status to United Parcel Service (UPS) and

Federal Express (FedEx) hub operations at the Louisville and

Memphis airports, respectively. For UPS and FedEx, this data is

important to efficient scheduling of ground resources and

results in minimal turnaround times for cargo aircraft in a very

competitive environment. In addition, the live surface data facilitates development of surface traffic management software at

Metron Corporation and the FAA Technical Center and traffic

flow management (TFM) research at the Volpe Center. For the

TFM research, the Volpe Center developed the event extractor

tool to identify times of specific surface events important for

TFM predictions. The distribution of surface surveillance data to

non-FAA users is unique to Louisville and Memphis and the

infrastructure the Volpe Center developed is a model for future

implementations. (Sponsored by FAA)

Terminal Facilities Replacement Support

The Volpe Center supports the FAA in the areas of program

management, schedule management, and systems engineering

for the replacement of airport traffic control towers (ATCT) and

terminal radar approach control (TRACON) facilities. The

FAA's Terminal Facilities Sector is responsible for the establishment, replacement, and modernization of terminal air traffic

control facilities to ensure cost effective infrastructure platforms

exist for the control of air traffic in the National Airspace

System. In FY 2005, the Volpe Center supported the Terminal

Facilities Sector in: the establishment of a new ATCT/TRACON

at the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport; the collocation

of the Houston TRACON into the Houston Air Route Traffic

Control Center; the initial planning for the Fort Sill Army Radar

Control Center/Oklahoma City TRACON transition project;

and the development of life cycle cost estimates for congressionally mandated ATCT and TRACON replacement projects.

(Sponsored by FAA)

Telecommunications Information Management System

The Volpe Center continues to support the FAA's

Telecommunications Information Management System (TIMS).

The Volpe Center is responsible for the design, development,

operation, maintenance, and user training of TIMS. TIMS provides a single, central, national data repository of FAA telecommunications ordering, funding, and inventory information

along with a consistent set of automated tools to support the

telecommunications business processes of the FAA. In FY 2005,

the Volpe Center delivered TIMS software upgrades in two primary areas: automated disconnect processes for telecommunications services being transitioned to the FAA's

Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) contract; and new

functionality to handle the FAA's management of FAA-owned

telecommunications assets. (Sponsored by FAA)

Next Generation Air Transportation System

The Volpe Center is continuing its support to the NASA

Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate through active participation in the Small Aircraft Transportation Systems (SATS)

Program, the Next Generation Air Transportation System

(NGATS)/Joint Program Development Office (JPDO) and

through membership in the Aeronautics, Science and

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 10
Technology Subcommittee of the National Science and

Technology Council (NSTC). The Volpe Center serves as a

member of the SATS Advisory Board and both as a consultant to

the NGATS/JPDO Board and a member of the NGATS Agile

Air Traffic Integrated Product Team. As a member of the NSTC

Aeronautics Science and Technology Subcommittee, the Volpe

Center also serves as a member of the Civil Aeronautics

Research and Development Policy Working Group. The Volpe

Center is a key contributor to the JPDO Futures Working Group

and participating in a major initiative related to the human

automation interface and its implications for the next generation air traffic system. (Sponsored by NASA)

Engineering and Turnkey Deployment Capability on

Behalf of U.S. Air Force (USAF)

In FY 2005, the Volpe Center, on behalf of the USAF,

Electronic Systems Center (ESC), National Airspace System

(NAS) Program Office, continued its support to a long-term

project to replace DoD’s terminal radars, voice switching 

systems, and terminal automation systems, including the Digital

Airport Surveillance Radar (DASR); Voice Communications

Switching System/Enhanced Terminal Voice Switching (ETVS)

System; and Digital Advanced Automation System

(DAAS)/Standard Terminal Automation Replacement Systems

(STARS). The Volpe team participates in the deployment of

these systems at over two-thirds of the 177 USAF and Air

National Guard (ANG) Bases worldwide. For the past six years,

Volpe has played a major role in requirements definition, system

engineering, site engineering, and analysis of communications,

surveillance, and automation systems for the NAS program

office. The Volpe Center provides the government’s technical

oversight, conducting the system acceptance test (SAT) for

STARS and ETVS, and participating in SAT for DASR at each

location. We have become such an integral part of the team that

our responsibilities have grown each year on behalf of the program office. (Sponsored by USAF)

Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS)

Model Redesign 

The Highway Economic Requirements System (HERS)

model has been improved from an engineering model to one

that is held up as an outstanding example of applied economic

analysis, which other agencies should emulate. The Office of

Management and Budget and the Office of the Secretary of

Transportation have expressed interest in congestion pricing

and its potential impacts on justifying highway investment. No

existing model can answer the question of how much capital

investment could be reduced by using peak pricing. At the

request of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Volpe

Center staff are modifying HERS to be able to apply efficient

pricing. The Volpe Center is developing algorithms for disaggregating demand into peak, counter-peak, and off-peak periods.

The existing elasticity algorithms treat demand as a single “allday” schedule, not one that fluctuates by time of day. In the

course of designing equations to impute demand by period and

apply cross-elasticities between periods, the Volpe Center has

had to redesign the HERS algorithms that separate daily traffic

volumes into demand periods for purposes of estimating delay.

This has led to data collection and empirical research by Volpe

Center staff on diurnal traffic distribution patterns, in the

absence of congestion pricing. The redesigned model will be

used for HERS production runs feeding into the 2006 Report to

Congress on the Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges, and

Transit: Conditions and Performance Report. This work is a

major redesign of the HERS model, using cutting-edge analysis

to address a high profile question with major implications for

the Federal budget for transportation. (Sponsored by FHWA)

Planning Transportation Programs and Systems for

National Parks and Public Lands

More than 276 million visitors traveled to America’s 

national parks in 2004. These visitors, along with those visiting

other Federally managed public lands, faced a unique set of

transportation challenges. The Volpe Center works with the

National Park Service (NPS) and other Federal land management agencies to advance transportation programs, and to

design alternative transportation systems, to address these 

challenges. Through the Federal Lands Highway Program, 

the Volpe Center has helped to develop the NPS National

Transportation Management Program (TMP), which aims to

promote sustainable transportation solutions that enable public

access to national parks while reducing resource damage, 

mitigating traffic and parking congestion, and improving visitor

enjoyment. A broad range of Volpe Center efforts — technical

assistance, strategic communications, outreach and training,

financial analysis, planning reviews, and system evaluations —

has proven useful to both TMP and the NPS Park Roads and

Parkways Program. The Volpe Center has also undertaken some

40 individual transportation-planning projects at the park level,

ranging from water transportation studies to light-rail design

alternatives. (Sponsored by NPS, FHWA)

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 11
Managing Transportation and Land Use Conflicts in

Southeast Baltimore

Rapid development in the waterfront area of southeast

Baltimore threatens to overwhelm the transportation infrastructure. This has created a conflict between the policy objectives of

urban revitalization and high quality life. As a result, the

Baltimore City Department of Transportation (BCDOT), seeking national expertise and a neutral third party, asked the Volpe

Center for assistance in understanding and analyzing the key

transportation and land use issues and developing recommendations for resolving these issues. The Center gathered input from

neighborhood associations, businesses and developers,

researched other cities’ experiences, collected traffic data and

customized a regional travel demand model in order to produce

a coherent set of recommendations and implementation advice

for BCDOT. The recommendations, if implemented, will help

relieve bottlenecks, increase parking availability, improve transit,

support non-motorized transportation and pedestrian-oriented

streets, and strengthen data collection, interagency coordination, and decision-making. Implementing these recommendations will break new ground for Baltimore not only by increasing

roadway capacity and decreasing demand for single-occupancy

cars, but also by rethinking the way municipal departments work

together. Baltimore can also serve as a model for other cities

looking to manage land use and transportation jointly.

(Sponsored by the Baltimore City DOT) 

Improved Disability Access on Passenger Vessels

In January 2005, the Volpe Center completed a new riskbased methodology for providing improved wheelchair access

through watertight doors on passenger vessels, in support of the

Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board

(ATBCB). The project first examined the conflict between

ATBCB access guidelines and the Coast Guard’s watertight

integrity regulation for watertight doors and sills, whose purpose

is to prevent the entry and downflooding of water into the vessel. The new approach enables a barrier-free pathway by reconfiguring doors and structures so as to mitigate the water ingress

and downflooding hazard, and will assist designers, operators,

and safety inspectors in improving disability access on the vast

majority of U.S. passenger vessels. (Sponsored by the U.S.

Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board)

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 12
FAA International Site Assessment and Security

Certification 

In order to comply with the requirements of the Federal

Information Security Management Act (FISMA), the FAA’s

International Program Management staff requested support

from the Volpe Center in its effort to provide a secure Local

Area Network (LAN) environment in their Brussels, Belgium

office. The Brussels LAN supports FAA data from disparate locations in Europe and the United States and must go through a

successful Certification and Accreditation (C&A) process in

order to be deemed secure. The Volpe Center effort led to

securing the Brussels LAN, documenting the level of security the

LAN operates with, and providing the required documentation

to the FAA Information System Security Officer (ISSO) that led

to the successful completion of a C&A and to the operational

status of the Brussels site. (Sponsored by FAA)

Support to United States Air Force Air Mobility

Command (USAF AMC) and United Kingdom

Ministry of Defence (U.K. MOD)

During FY 2005 the Volpe Center facilitated transportation

technology sharing transfer between the U.S. DOT (FAA), USAF

AMC, and the U.K. MOD; enabled In-Transit Visibility for a

friendly allied partner, the U.K. Defence Transport and

Movement Agency (DTMA); and provided clear guidance,

based on sound risk, cost benefit and business analysis on how

to move forward with appropriate technology to support the

transportation enterprise for both the USAF AMC and the U.K.

DTMA. The Volpe Center team’s efforts enabled existing systems to effectively share information and to present this in an

easy to use, graphical, and web based format, essentially making

the whole greater than the sum of its parts. This technology has

been used to great effect by Volpe customers both in the United

States and the United Kingdom. For example, the Volpe Center

developed products enables the DTMA to make key information

visible online using web-based and brokered technology in real

time. This includes visibility of airlift, cargo, personnel, and easy

access to a great deal of other information (such as biosecurity

policy). (Sponsored by USAF AMC and U.K. MOD)

Iraqi Railroad System

The Volpe Center was instrumental in supporting the Iraq

Rehabilitation Management Organization (IRMO), formally

known as the Coalition Provisional Authority, by overall program

management support for supplying key railroad maintenance

and construction equipment for the Iraqi Railways system. This

work included contracting, manufacturing oversight, handling

delivery logistics, and finally accepting the equipment and training Iraqi Railways personnel on railroad construction equipment. A total of thirty-eight machines, representing six different

types of equipment, were manufactured in the United States,

Italy and Russia, and are now being used to rebuild the Iraqi

Railways System. (Sponsored by the IRMO) 

Safe Skies for Africa Initiative 

This year, on behalf of the FAA, the Volpe Center participated in an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic

DOT Strategic Goal

Global

Connectivity

Facilitate a more efficient domestic and global transportation system that 

enables economic growth and development

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 13
Management (CNS/ATM) meeting in Abuja, Nigeria. The

Center discussed implementation of a Global Positioning System

(GPS) Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) system to support flight

planning and provide training of a GPS outage prediction tool

developed by the Volpe Center that supports generation of aeronautical information. Aviation representatives from each country in Africa participated. One of the goals of this initiative is to

encourage the expeditious implementation of the use of GPS to

improve air navigation safety. (Sponsored by FAA)

U.S.-French Vehicle Track Interaction Research

The Volpe Center has been supporting the FRA in the area

of Vehicle Track Interaction for more than 25 years. The results

of this work are critical in determining the critical size of geometric irregularities in track. For the past five years the FRA and

the Volpe Center have been working with a group of French

researchers to better understand the differences between U.S.

and French standards for high-speed track. In the past year, significant conclusions were reached about the nature of these limiting irregularities and some of the underlying safety criteria

used to evaluate the vehicle response. Important in these investigations has been the evaluation of high-speed curving especially

at high levels of cant deficiency. This work is closely coupled

with an effort to develop the next generation vehicle track interaction simulation tool. The FRA is funding the University of

Illinois to develop this tool and the Volpe Center has been providing critical detailed reviews of the code and established

benchmark criteria to evaluate the performance. (Sponsored by

FRA)

U.K. Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB)

In the spring of 2005, the Volpe Center and FRA officials,

completed the first annual project review meeting with the

United Kingdom’s Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB). The

meeting was held in London, England and provided a venue for

discussions on all areas of rail research covered under the

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between FRA and the

RSSB. The meeting addressed opportunities for information

sharing and collaborative research activities related to rail equipment integrity (passenger and freight), track and infrastructure

research, and level crossings. The RSSB is considering the use of

traffic channelization devices to reduce driver violations at crossings. The FRA/Volpe Center staff are moving ahead with previous agreements on collaborative efforts to improve occupant

protection via various testing in the United States and United

Kingdom, and modifications to interior structures. (Sponsored by

the FRA and U.K. RSSB)

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 14
System for Assessing Global Emissions (SAGE)

FAA’s SAGE, designed and developed by the Volpe Center,

is a new computer model used for predicting fuel burn and

emissions for the entire world’s commercial aircraft — over 30

million flights annually. In 2004, FAA’s Research and

Development Advisory Committee identified the model as the

most significant environmental development project underway

by FAA. The previous year, the American Institute of

Aeronautics and Astronautics identified SAGE as one of the

most notable ongoing FAA research efforts. As SAGE is the only

non-proprietary model of its type, it drove the United States

position at recent meetings of the International Civil Aviation

Authority’s Committee on Aviation and Environmental

Protection (ICAO/CAEP). It is currently undergoing

ICAO/CAEP review for formal adoption. In addition, FAA is

currently working with the Environmental Protection Agency to

utilize SAGE as the tool for providing U.S. aviation fuel usage

figures to the United Nation’s Framework Convention on

Climate Change (UNFCCC). UNFCCC, with an open offer from

FAA, is considering making SAGE results available to all U.N.

member nations required to submit fuel burn data to the

UNFCCC. This groundbreaking model will also provide the

foundation for continued U.S. research in global warming, 

an area of specific note in the DOT Strategic Plan. (Sponsored 

by FAA) 

Airport Noise Mitigation

From 1982 to 1999, $4.3 billion has been spent on noise

mitigation activities at United States airports, and the Volpedeveloped Integrated Noise Model (INM) — a computer model

for airport noise prediction and analysis — is the primary tool

used by decision makers charged with these expenditures. In

September 2005, the FAA released Version 6.2 of the INM. A

specific focus of Version 6.2 was to support more complete modeling of air tour noise in the National Parks. This version of the

model will directly support the FAA and the National Park

Service in the development of Air Tour Management Plans

(ATMPs), as part of a separate Volpe Center project for the

Western Pacific Region of the FAA. Version 6.2 also reflects the

initial results of a multi-year, Volpe-led effort to develop and

implement in INM a new International Standard for the lateral

attenuation of aircraft sound, which was recently adopted by the

Society of Automotive Engineers. (Sponsored by FAA)

Highway Noise Mitigation

Since 1970, over $2 billion has been spent on highway noise

barrier construction in the United States The FHWA’s Traffic

Noise Model (TNM) — a computer model developed by the

Volpe Center to predict highway traffic noise levels — is the primary tool used by decision makers charged with these expenditures. Originally released by FHWA with Volpe Center support

in 1998, the latest Version 2.5 was released by FHWA/Volpe in

2004. It reflects substantial improvements to the core acoustics

and has undergone comprehensive field validation. In May

2005, FHWA announced in the Federal Register that Version 2.5

would be the official model to be used for all future traffic noise

analyses. It is expected that Version 2.5 enhancements will lead

to more accurate highway noise barrier design, and consequentDOT Strategic Goal

Environmental

Stewardship

Promote transportation solutions that enhance communities and protect the natural 

and built environment

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 15
ly a more accountable allocation of highway construction 

dollars. FHWA has conservatively estimated that the use of TNM

will result in an annual cost savings of $20 million annually as a

result of its improved accuracy. (Sponsored by FHWA)

Analytical Support for Corporate Average Fuel

Economy Standards

On August 23, 2005, Secretary Mineta announced a proposal to reshape the regulations governing the Corporate Average

Fuel Economy (CAFE) of light trucks. This represents the

biggest change to the CAFE program since its inception in the

late 1970s, when minivans didn’t exist and pickup trucks were

used almost exclusively as work vehicles. Today, minivans, sportutility vehicles, and pickup trucks used by households account

for half of all light vehicle sales in the United States. In reforming the standards applicable to light trucks, NHTSA sought to

balance concerns regarding jobs, safety, economic competitiveness, and the need to conserve energy. The proposed reform

shifts from a single-value standard (e.g., 22.2 miles per gallon) 

to the sales-weighted harmonic average of six fuel economy 

“targets” that vary with vehicle size. The Volpe Center supported

NHTSA's development of this proposal by integrating detailed

product plans provided by manufacturers, reviewing available

technologies, and developing and utilizing a modeling system

that estimates the costs and benefits of different options. The

system, which required more than a year to develop, involves

500 pages of source code, considers two dozen available technologies, and operates on as many as a thousand unique vehicle

models in any given model year. Volpe Center staff made extensive use of the system to provide NHTSA with analysis needed

for decisions regarding the structure and stringency of the

reformed CAFE system. The Center's work provides most of the

proposal's analytical underpinnings. (Sponsored by NHTSA)

Hybrid-Electric Locomotives 

The Volpe Center procured and delivered to the U.S. Army

three hybrid-electric locomotives. Known in the industry as

“Green Goats” these locomotives can provide savings in fuel

usage and lowered green house gas emissions from 40-60 percent when compared to conventional diesel engine switcher

locomotives with the same starting equivalent horsepower. Fort

Hood in Texas and Fort Irwin and the Sierra Army Depot in

California were the first three U.S. Army locations to acquire

this new technology. Because of the success of this effort, the

Volpe Center recently signed into contract an additional hybrid

locomotive for the U.S. Army. (Sponsored by the DoD/U.S. Army)

National Environmental Site Cleanup Report

The Volpe Center developed the “Environmental Site

Cleanup Report” (ESCR) for the FAA ATO-W, documenting the

status of approximately $500 million in identified environmental

cleanup requirements associated with over 50,000 FAA facilities.

These contaminated sites are primarily the result of past hazardous waste management activities (e.g., improper waste disposal) or hazardous material spills (e.g., fuel storage tanks, PCB

transformers) from FAA and other potentially responsible parties. This work is critical to the planning and budgeting of

cleanup activities, and for FAA to ensure operationally suitable

FAA workplaces fully compliant with all occupational safety and

health procedures and practices. (Sponsored by FAA)

Commercial Air Tour Management Plans for National

Park Overflights

The Volpe Center supports the FAA, Western Pacific

Region, Executive Resource Office, in the implementation of

the Air Tour Management Plan (ATMP) Program as directed by

Congress in the National Park Overflights Act of 2000. The

objective of the program is to regulate commercial air tours over

units of the National Park System, such that significant adverse

impacts on natural and cultural resources and visitor experiences are prevented or mitigated. Over 130 National Park units

are subject to the law, with an estimated cost of $65 million to

prepare the ATMPs. The Volpe Center is undertaking the

acoustic and ecological field studies and subsequent analyses to

develop Environmental Assessments or Environmental Impact

Statements required for the ATMPs that are unique to each

park. This work is providing for improved stewardship of the

natural and cultural resources of the United States. (Sponsored 

by FAA)

EPA’s Cleanup at Superfund Site, Libby, Montana

The Volpe Center has provided technical and project management assistance to the Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) analyzing and assessing ongoing asbestos exposure in

Libby, Montana since 1999. The Center has performed environmental analyses and assessments at over 3,500 locations in the

Libby area, identifying over 1,200 sites requiring cleanup. The

City of Libby, Montana is a Superfund National Priorities List

site. The Volpe Center has developed and implemented a sitespecific Comprehensive Safety and Health Program; sampling

and analysis program; relational database of sample, laboratory

analysis, survey, and geolocation information; and site-specific

processes for inspection, design, cleanup, disposal, and overJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 16
sight. Over 375 properties to date, including residential, commercial, and recreational facilities, have been remediated by the

Volpe Center’s contractors. (Sponsored by EPA)

Ballast Water and Aquatic Nuisance Species

Management 

The Volpe Center manages several important elements of

the U.S. Coast Guard’s aquatic nuisance species (ANS) program,

which aims to stem the flow of invasive species into U.S. coastal

waters from ballast water discharged from ships. A technical

review panel of engineers and biologists conducts assessments of

experimental onboard treatment systems for the Coast Guard

Shipboard Technology Evaluation Program (STEP), including

engineering plans and biological treatment effectiveness,

through desktop reviews and onboard observations of system

tests. The Panel also completed a technology assessment of thirteen ballast water treatment systems in this emerging field, to

assist Coast Guard policy makers as they consider new U.S. and

international ballast water management regulations. (Sponsored

by the DHS, U.S. Coast Guard)

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 17
Integrated Security Systems Deployment

The Volpe Center has assisted several Federal, state and

local agencies to design and implement integrated security systems to help protect elements of our Nation’s transportation system and critical government facilities. The Center initially

helped the FAA identify security technologies for airports and

air traffic control facilities. The Volpe Center staff refined their

expertise by supporting the implementation of state-of-the-art

security systems for the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury

and the U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) at their landmark facilities

in Washington, D.C. 

This year, the Volpe Center advanced the use of integrated

security systems on public transit systems. The Volpe Center

developed a set of “Transit Security Design Considerations” 

for the FTA, which has been distributed nationally to transit

authorities. This document recommended a systems 

approach to implementing security technologies, and will 

potentially impact millions of dollars of capital investments 

at transit systems. 

The Volpe Center also assisted the Massachusetts Bay

Transportation Authority (MBTA) to implement an integrated

security system on the new Silver Line Bus Rapid Transit System

tunnel in Boston. The system was implemented this year, and

has already produced both security and operational benefits.

The Volpe Center is now supporting the MBTA to expand the

Silver Line design throughout the 81 stations in the transit system. Under FTA sponsorship, the Volpe Center is producing a

case study of the integrated security systems deployed on the

MBTA Silver Line for national dissemination. The integrated

security system approach that the Volpe Center has developed

has the potential to produce security, safety, and operational

benefits for transportation system operators in all modes. In

addition, as a result of this experience, the Volpe Center is wellpositioned to assist the Department of Transportation incorporate the latest in integrated security systems in the new DOT

headquarters building, and will continue to support implementation of these technologies throughout the national transportation system. (Sponsored by FAA, FTA, U.S. Department of State, U.S.

Department of Treasury, USCP, MBTA)

Vehicle and Driver Identification and Screening

Systems Deployment

The Volpe Center has demonstrated and deployed a variety

of technologies that can assist various Federal agencies to efficiently identify and screen drivers and vehicles entering 

controlled areas. The Volpe Center assisted the U.S. Citizenship

and Immigration Services to demonstrate the use of advanced

technologies, such as biometrics, for identifying travelers at

international borders and airports. These systems were the forerunners of current international initiatives under the U.S. Visit

Program, the Free and Secure Trade Program, and others. 

The Volpe Center also assisted Federal agencies, such as the

U.S. Capitol Police, to design and implement systems to identify

drivers and vehicles entering critical government facilities and

thereby reduce potential threats posed by unauthorized people

or vehicles. The Volpe Center has applied its expertise in driver

and vehicle screening technologies to develop the Advanced

Vehicle and Driver Identification System (AVIDS) for the

DOT Strategic Goal

Security

Balance homeland and national security transportation requirements with the 

mobility needs of the Nation for personal travel and commerce

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 18
Department of Defense (DoD). Volpe Center staff demonstrated

AVIDS at a military base, improving security and reducing wait

times significantly. The DoD has commercialized the Volpe

Center design for AVIDS, and several private companies are

expected to produce commercial products for use at government facilities, airports, seaports, etc. In response to the

increased threat of vehicle bombs in locations such as Iraq, the

Volpe Center has produced a deployable version of AVIDS. The

Volpe Center is providing AVIDS units for rapid deployment

overseas to protect U.S. military personnel. AVIDS and the other

driver and vehicle screening systems developed and deployed by

the Volpe Center are good examples of how innovative technologies can improve security, operational efficiency and

throughput at facility entry points and international borders.

(Sponsored by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, DoD, USCP) 

Maritime Domain Awareness Technology Deployment

The Volpe Center has implemented vessel identification

and tracking technologies to improve maritime domain awareness in the Panama Canal, St. Lawrence Seaway and Columbia

River. These applications have resulted in improved safety and

operational efficiency. Most recently, the Volpe Center has assisted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the DoD

to apply vessel-tracking technology for security purposes. Under

the sponsorship of DoD, the Volpe Center developed the Vessel

Identification and Positioning System (VIPS) to help prevent

attacks on Navy vessels, such as the attack on the U.S.S. Cole.

The Volpe Center demonstrated VIPS in Boston Harbor during

the Democratic National Convention and at U.S. Navy facilities

in the Mediterranean Sea. The DoD is commercializing the

VIPS design, and products based on the Volpe Center design

should be available from industry in the near future. Recently,

the Volpe Center initiated support to the Coast Guard to implement vessel identification technologies throughout the United

States through the Maritime Domain Awareness Program. The

Center is also supporting the Navy to deploy these technologies

throughout their area of operations in Europe. The technologies implemented by the Volpe Center integrate vessel positioning and mapping data from many sources, thus providing greatly improved situational awareness. Volpe Center sponsors expect

these applications to produce benefits in safety, security, and

operational efficiency for Federal, state, and local agencies, as

well as commercial vessel and facility operators. (Sponsored by

DHS, DoD)

Vulnerability of the Global Positioning System

The Volpe Center is working on behalf of the FAA to mitigate the vulnerabilities of the Global Positioning System (GPS).

There is renewed interest in this topic following the December

2004 release of the “U.S. Space-Based Positioning, Navigation,

and Timing (PNT) Policy” Presidential Directive. This directive

designated Federally-provided PNT systems as part of the critical

infrastructure. The Volpe Center is working with the FAA’s Air

Traffic Operations Office to demonstrate the value in having

Loran-C as a backup system to the GPS that will maintain performance standards in the urban and maritime environments.

GPS is particularly vulnerable to disruptions caused by signal

blockage while Loran is less vulnerable. The Volpe Center 

project with the FAA will validate whether the complementary

positioning and timing features of Loran-C and GPS meld into 

a tracking system that benefits a variety of land and water users.

(Sponsored by FAA) 

Screener Training Quality Assurance Monitoring

The Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Quality

Assurance (QA) Branch, Evaluation and Quality Assurance

Division, within the Office of Workforce Performance and

Training is responsible for monitoring, evaluating, analyzing,

and reporting on the effectiveness, efficiency, and adequacy of

training programs. The QA Branch manages a National

Training QA Program to ensure standardization of training

delivery and that course offerings and screener recertifications

are achieving their intended objectives. In FY 2005, the Volpe

Center provided support to TSA's QA program. Federal staff

from the Volpe Center were trained and certified as TSA QA

monitors and then deployed throughout the country to observe

screener training sessions, to evaluate the delivery and the effectiveness of the training, and to verify that course offerings are

being delivered in a standard format consistent with TSA policy.

The Volpe Center conducted 28 individual screener training QA

site visits. In addition, drawing on the 28 site visits plus stakeholder interviews and an industry benchmarking analysis, the

Volpe Center provided TSA with an analysis of the current state

of the screener training QA program. (Sponsored by DHS)

Healthwatch — Transportation Disease Migration

The Volpe Center is supporting the Centers for Disease

Control (CDC) to improve predictions of the spread of disease.

The Volpe Center is supporting the Transportation Disease

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 19
Migration Project (Phase I) to provide the CDC and the Armed

Forces Medical Intelligence Center (AFMIC) with operational

prototype software for estimating air passenger movements. In

August 2005, the CDC, National Center for Infectious Disease

(NCID), Division of Global Migration and Quarantine

(DGMQ), NCID’s Office of Informatics, and AFMIC conducted

a functional review of Version 1 Prototype software that the

Volpe Center developed and have been enthusiastically engaged

in identifying enhancements for subsequent prototype versions.

(Sponsored by the CDC) 

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 20
The Volpe Center’s efforts to support the President’s

Management Agenda (PMA) and achieve organizational 

excellence goals in the areas of budget and performance 

integration, e-government, financial performance, competitive

sourcing and strategic management of human capital are two

fold: 1. initiatives and projects aimed to improve our client’s

organizations and 2. efforts designed to strengthen the Volpe

Center’s own organization.

Strategic Management of Human

Capital 

Foster a citizen-centered, results-based government that 

is organized to be agile, lean, and capable of making timely

decisions.

Helping Build an Effective Transportation Workforce 

A key component of DOT’s Strategic Plan is the establishment of a strong DOT leadership role in transportation workforce development. The Volpe Center is helping DOT provide

this leadership through its capacity building programs, which

provide information, technical assistance, tools, and training to

transportation professionals. Building on the success of two

established Professional Capacity Building (PCB) programs in

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) and Transportation

Planning, the Center is helping the FHWA build new programs

in several areas that are major DOT priorities: roadway safety,

environmental stewardship, security and emergency management, and public-private partnerships. The Center is helping

FHWA assess needs and available training resources in these

areas, develop multi-year strategic plans, and provide training,

outreach materials and other resources to implement the program plans. The Center has also been instrumental in establishing a council that brings together managers of capacity building

programs from across the DOT. The PCB Program Management

Council helps managers exchange information and effective

practices, identify opportunities for enhanced knowledge management, and better integrate training, technical assistance, and

information dissemination among programs. (Sponsored by

FHWA)

Volpe Center is “Green” on Strategic Management of

Human Capital Scorecard 

The Volpe Center received numerous accolades on its

Leadership/Knowledge Management, Performance Culture,

Workforce Planning/Talent and Accountability Programs in a

U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Audit Report in

February. OPM reviewed the Center’s human resources management policies and procedures; interviewed the Volpe Center’s

Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, Union President and

HR staff; and held three group sessions with senior managers,

supervisors and employees. OPM concluded that the Volpe

Center’s Human Capital Program was strategically aligned with

the PMA and corporate business goals. OPM also found that the

Center made use of the full range of HR flexibilities and set the

standard for OPM’s further evaluation of DOT’s HR programs.

The Volpe Center, as part of the DOT/RITA HR community, is

“Green” on status and progress for the PMA, Strategic

Management of Human Capital scorecard. 

DOT Strategic Goal

Organizational

Excellence

Advance the Department’s ability to manage for results and achieve the goals of 

the President’s Management Agenda

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 21
Volpe Center’s Student Employment Program Model for

Department 

During the year, the Volpe Center hired a total of 33 Ph.D.,

graduate and undergraduate students under the Co-op or

Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) thus attaining its

business plan goal to have approximately 40 students on the

rolls at any one time. Fourteen, or 42 percent, of the 33 hires

were women and six, or 18 percent, were minorities. The Co-op

Program serves as a staffing pipeline for future permanent hires

and an excellent tool to meet the Department’s goal to increase

entry-level hiring. The Center converted eleven Co-op students

to permanent or term appointments. Five, or 45 percent, of the

eleven conversions were women and one, or 9 percent, is a

minority. Despite intense competition with agencies located in

Washington, the Center successfully continued its practice of

enticing top caliber graduates to join the Center under the

Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) Program. The Center

hired a female graduate from Columbia University with a

Masters in Public Administration (Concentration:

Environmental Science and Policy) as a GS-11 PMF

Environmental Specialist. 

The Volpe Center Strengthens Results Oriented

Performance Culture 

A Union/Management team developed a four level performance appraisal system that met the President’s Management

Agenda/DOT requirement for a system to distinguish between

levels of satisfactory performance and also integrated the

Center’s core competency framework. Center management

championed the effort to better identify key contributors

through expanding the recognition of honorary awardees at 

the Center’s Annual Award Ceremony. In addition, they also

instilled a more disciplined approach in addressing poor 

performance through facilitating redeployment of employees 

to projects where there were better skill matches, funding 

on-the-job training and supporting managers in formal 

performance-based actions.

Volpe Center Marketing Initiative

The Center focused in FY 2005 on improving its business

development/marketing processes and practices. A marketing

task force proposed a new marketing process, identified roles

and responsibilities, and specified needs including marketing

training, market research, a customer relationship database, an

Intranet-based marketing resource site, and collateral materials

to support marketing efforts. Future strategic and annual plans

will reflect these actions.

Client-Sponsored Training User Group 

The Client-Sponsored Training User's Group (CTUG) was

started in 1992 as an informal, grass roots endeavor to foster

excellence in state-of-the-art technology transfer as the Volpe

Center community explores the systematic study of transportation and logistics issues, methods, and theories in our projects.

CTUG provides a forum for the Volpe Center to discuss the requisite tools and knowledge base that have been, and continue to

be, developed in support of the Volpe Center's integrated system

approaches to critical intermodal transportation and logistics

issues.

The CTUG audience is comprised of staff members from a

variety of areas in the Volpe community. CTUG speakers represent academia, Volpe colleagues, other DOT colleagues, and the

private sector. This year’s CTUG topic areas have included The

Democratic National Convention and Its Impacts on Boston's

Surface Transportation; Authenticating Passengers While Inside

Moving Vehicles Using Biometrics for Entry Point Screening

and Border Security; and Lessons Learned for a High Risk

Organization — the NASA Space Shuttle.

Lunch Buddies Program

For the seventh consecutive year, Volpe Center community

employees volunteered as Lunch Buddies to second and third

graders at the nearby Kennedy-Longfellow Elementary School 

in Cambridge. Lunch Buddies, an all-volunteer program, 

promotes the Kennedy-Longfellow’s commitment to early 

literacy. In 2004/2005, every one of the 56 Kennedy-Longfellow

second and third graders was paired with his or her personal

Volpe Lunch Buddy. Throughout the school year, Volpe 

volunteers read to their buddies every other week for 30 

minutes. As described by one of the participating teachers, “The

benefits of the program are the individualized attention each

child receives and the ensuing conversations about books.”

Through Lunch Buddies, Volpe is “making a difference” as a

good community neighbor — specifically to the students of the

Cambridge public school system. As in previous years, in

2004/2005, Volpe received a Certificate of Appreciation from

Cambridge School Volunteers, Inc., recognizing the Center 

for volunteering “in educational programs that provide 

individualized academic services to students in the Cambridge

Public Schools.” With 72 permanent and substitute Lunch

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 22
Buddy volunteers in 2004/2005, the Volpe Center represented

the “largest number of volunteers” from any local corporation,

public sector/government agency, or university to volunteer in

the Cambridge public schools. Further, since Lunch Buddies’

inception in 1998, 255 Volpe Federal, tenant, and contractor

employees have volunteered as buddies!

Competitive Sourcing

Ensure that we are providing the highest quality and the most

economical service to Americans.

Design of the Most Efficient Organization 

In support of the PMA’s competitive sourcing goal, the

Volpe Center conducted a streamlined study of its secretarial

and administrative analysis support. In a ninety-day period (stipulated by OMB for streamlined studies), the MEO team, led by

Management Systems, produced an agency tender that offered

work process improvements, efficiencies, and cost savings. Even

though the MEO was comprised of nine fewer positions than in

the past, the Center was able to accommodate, without a reduction in force, all impacted parties at their current grade levels.

Part of the MEO solution, the consolidation of senior secretary

duties with some analytical functions into a new position, even

resulted in some competitive promotions for some impacted

staff. Over a five-year period of performance, the MEO proposal

represents savings of 53 percent when compared to the market

analysis or $7.1 million. The MEO Design Team was collaborative (impacted parties and union representation, sensitive (biweekly updates, briefings, and organizational change and career

development planning sessions were provided to impacted parties) and effective. The MEO won!

Implementation of the Most Efficient Organization

Once the MEO win was announced, the Volpe Center

formed a Transition Team to craft an Implementation Plan to

address HR, business process, and performance issues related to

the MEO. The MEO Transition Team, consisted of impacted

parties, management, union representation and all levels of secretary support. This Team produced its Implementation Plan in

60 days, as planned, to provide for approximately three months

to transition to the MEO. The Volpe Center officially stood up

the MEO on July 1, 2005, in accordance with the letter of obligation. The Center simultaneously focused on reassignments, an

offsite teambuilding training session, and filling vacancies.

Through a working group, the Center tested and finalized an

electronic time and attendance pilot application, trained nearly

400 Volpe Center employees, rolled out the application for

Center-wide use for the first pay period in July, and established a

related Intranet sub-site. While the MEO was stood up as

required, there is still much work to do and a core group continues to meet to address implementation issues and concerns.

Budget and Performance Integration

Implement regular, systematic measurement, and accountability for program performance.

Led Development of the RITA Report to Congress leading to improvements in planning and coordination of

RD&T across the Department

The Norman Y. Mineta Research and Special Programs

Improvement Act requires that the RITA Administrator submit a

Report to Congress on DOT’s current and projected RD&T priorities. Volpe Center staff led the development, design, and

drafting of the report and submitted it to headquarters ahead of

schedule. The report defined, for the first time, the new

agency’s vision, mission, and strategic goals. Development of the

report required the involvement of many high-level stakeholders. Volpe staff developed the report in close cooperation with

the operating administrations and the Office of the Secretary

and incorporated feedback from DOT and external stakeholders. As a consequence, the report has been well received by senior leadership in the Department. The buy-in by the operating

administrations that resulted from involvement in the report

development has led to improved planning and coordination of

RD&T across the Department. In particular, it has furthered the

implementation of a DOT-wide planning process. This includes

a department-wide planning process for research and two bodies

for interdepartmental coordination, RITA’s coordination of the

Department’s RD&T budget process, the annual review of

modal research programs by a cross-Departmental team, and the

establishment of a cross modal process for preparing the multiyear strategic RD&T plan required by the recently enacted

SAFETEA-LU. (Sponsored by RITA)

Support to the U.S DOT Small Business and

Innovative Research (SBIR) Program

The Volpe Center manages and coordinates the DOT SBIR

Program. It encourages the small business community to participate in developing creative capabilities that address high-priority

requirements of the DOT. This stimulates technological innovaJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 23
tions which help create new products/services and jobs for the

Nation. This is done through the annual SBIR solicitation that

sets forth topics that address a wide area of agency specific concerns. The 2005 annual solicitation received sixty-six proposals

addressing the eight research topics from twenty-three states and

one U.S. territory, Puerto Rico. In addition to the formal program, the Center provides additional support to the small business community by referrals to other DOT procurement opportunities, the TRB Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis

(IDEA) Program, other agency SBIR programs, and SBA

resources. Through these efforts, the Volpe Center has helped

make the SBIR program a truly national program that reaches

all 50 states. (Sponsored by U.S. DOT/Office of Small and

Disadvantaged Business Utilization)

Exceeding FY 2005 Major Procurement Preference

Program Goals for Awards to Small, 8(a), Small

Disadvantaged, Woman-Owned, and HUBZone 

Small Businesses

The Volpe Center is committed to fostering small business

participation in all of its procurements, to actively participate 

in the Small Business Administration’s programs such as the

8(a) Program, and to work with the small business community

on new and innovative research and development efforts. In 

FY 2004, the Center failed to meet its Major Procurement

Preference Program goals in the small business and 8(a) goal

categories. In FY 2005, the Center embarked on an aggressive

plan to meet or exceed these goal categories and exceeded

every goal related to Small, 8(a), Small Disadvantaged, WomanOwned, and HUBZone Small Businesses and increased total

small business award achievements by 14 percent.

Project Management Policies, Practices and Support

The Volpe Center implemented a new Volpe Center policy

requiring the use of Project Management Standard Practices 

for Volpe Center Projects and generated five basic Project

Management Standard Practices that are required for all 

projects. A goal is assurance that all projects are managed in a

consistent and business-like manner. The Center also developed

a plan to certify project managers in accordance with Project

Management Institute standards.

Enhancing the Competitive Environment for

Transportation Information Project Support Services

(TRIPS).

In order to enhance the competitive environment for the

Transportation Information Project Support Services (TRIPS),

the follow-on acquisition to the Volpe Center’s on-site Technical

Support Services contract, the Volpe Center established an

acquisition approach that provides for greater flexibility to support our project needs, utilizes performance-based contracting

methods, and fosters competition. The Center has encouraged

vigorous competition for this follow-on acquisition through the

issuance of a Request for Industry Comments in November

2004, issuance of a Draft Request for Proposal in March 2005,

and by conducting an extensive pre-proposal conference. This

follow-on acquisition will replace the Center’s largest contract,

and has high visibility within the Department, particularly from

the Department’s Chief Information Officer. 

Transportation Research, Analysis and

Communications (TRACX) Contract

The Volpe Center shepherded the transition of the on-site

TRACX contract awarded to Chenega Advanced Solutions and

Engineering (CASE, LLC) on September 9, 2004, with a full

performance start date of November 1, 2004. The contract,

effective November 1, 2004, is a four-year task order contract.

This contract was a unique procurement and posed unprecedented challenges for the acquisition and transition teams. The

acquisition was a sole source award to an Alaskan Native 8-A

firm and was comprised of services previously delivered by a

combination of the Integrated Communications and

Information Services (ICIS) contract with Planners

Collaborative, Inc. and the Operations Research and Analysis

(ORA) Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) of the Technical

Support Services Contract (TSS) with Computer Sciences

Corporation (subcontract with EG&G Technical Services, Inc.).

This activity helped the Volpe Center to meet the DOT’s goals

for doing business with small businesses and for moving to 

performance-based contracting.

Providing Best Value Acquisition Support to the Volpe

Center and the DOT

The Volpe Center’s Acquisition Management Division is

responsible for conducting all procurement activities in support

of the mission, goals, and objectives of the Volpe Center, and 

for providing clients with best value acquisition support. When

current projections in direct contract obligations decreased substantially, steps were immediately taken to reduce the Division’s

expenses and also increase the Center’s direct contract obligations for FY 2005 with the support of the Office Directors and

Division Chiefs. These efforts resulted in a $300,000 reduction

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 24
in expenses, and processing of over $22 million in contract obligations during the last two months of the fiscal year. By taking

these steps, the Acquisition Management Division provided true

“best value” to the Center and its sponsors.

E-government

Through the better use of information technology, enable

faster, easier, and more efficient ways for citizens to transact

their business with U.S. DOT and provide input on polices 

and programs.

Simplifying Environmental Permits for Pipelines

As part of its environmental streamlining and stewardship

work, the Volpe Center recently initiated an innovative project

with the PHMSA’s Office of Pipeline Safety to develop a pipeline

repair permit management system. Volpe is working with

PHMSA and ten other Federal resource agencies to create a prototype system that will simplify and expedite the environmental

permitting process for pipeline repairs. The system provides

pipeline operators with one-stop shopping for repairs, by sending the permit application to all the Federal agencies involved at

the same time. This system encourages the various agencies

tasked with protecting endangered species, streams and wetlands, and protecting against soil erosion and sediment to

address permits concurrently, which should significantly increase

the speed of permit processing. As the Associate Director for

Transportation and Energy of the White House Council on

Environmental Quality has noted, the system of coordinated

permitting for pipeline repairs has the potential to change the

way the government does permitting not only for pipelines, but

also for other types of projects, such as highway construction. By

promoting enhanced interagency coordination and cooperation, the work furthers DOT’s Organizational Excellence goal as

well as its Environmental Stewardship goal. (Sponsored by

PHMSA)

Operation, Maintenance and Enhancement of

FedSTAR

In FY 2005, the Volpe Center, on behalf of the Pipeline and

Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s Office of Pipeline

Safety (PHMSA/OPS), continued to operate, maintain, and

enhance FedSTAR, plus provide Help Desk and training support

to ensure that state compliance is met in a timely manner. The

agency’s state partners view FedSTAR as a one-stop information

resource for their pipeline grant needs — the One Call program, Telephonics Accident Data, and Regulations & Standards

information. The Volpe Center’s support has decreased the time

for processing state requests for grant reimbursement; streamlined the process used to score the applications and has

decreased the wait-time for a state to receive its score and 

potential funding level for the year. It has also greatly increased

state pipeline inspector access to critical standards information,

which in the past was severely limited and not current. The

FedSTAR system collects data from authorized Federal and state

Pipeline Safety Partner programs, uses special business rules to

model the data and reporting requirements set out in 49 U.S.C.

Chapter 601 for distributed pipeline safety grant monies; and

aggregates and analyzes the data to produce customized OPS

forms and performance scores, which are fed into special equations to generate financial and other decision-based reports.

Imbedded workflow automation in FedSTAR extends into

PHMSA’s State Program processes with the management of the

payments, performance score processing, document storage and

historical data — all which directly relate to the grant process.

(Sponsored by PHMSA)

Transition of Hazardous Material Information System 

During FY 2005, the Volpe Center completed the transition

of the Office of Hazardous Materials Safety’s (OHMS)

Hazardous Material Information System (HMIS) from a fifteenplus year old legacy system to a new information technology

platform that integrates e-government concepts in mission performance, expanding the use of information technology to

enable faster, simpler and more efficient ways for stakeholders to

transact business with DOT. The HMIS system also supports the

Secretary of Transportation’s Organizational Excellence Goal of

enhancing public health and safety by working toward the elimination of transportation-related deaths and injuries. HMIS data

and software applications are used to identify emerging safety

problems, monitor compliance efforts, support training programs, and supply analytical justification for regulatory proposals, supporting DOT safety objectives. (Sponsored by PHMSA)

New Enterprise Resource Planning System 

During FY 2005, the Volpe Center played a core leadership

role to support specific acquisition activities associated with the

FAA’s Air Traffic Organization Service Management Office

(ATO-W) efforts to execute a complex acquisition process to

acquire both the services of a system integrator and a commercial-off-the-shelf Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to

replace multiple legacy systems and modernize FAA asset manJohn A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 25
agement business operations to improve business effectiveness.

Volpe Center staff provided technical and process guidance,

served on various evaluation teams including the risk mitigation

team, and participated in the final Source Selection Official

presentation and decision-making process. This effort highlighted the Volpe Center’s ability to be part of a broad-based government/industry team and serve as an honest broker focused on

what is best for the customer. (Sponsored by FAA)

Support to Volpe Initiatives through the Intranet

The Center developed and implemented an Intranet-based

document forms system that reduced costs, improved usability,

and assured appropriateness for government use. The Center

identified and analyzed potential options and selected a solution

that would serve users’ needs and cost only $265! The Intranet

was used extensively to release the new system and provide 

continuing support. All available forms are now posted on the

Intranet, as are the instructions and files needed to use the software. There is also a feedback mechanism so that users can ask

questions or make suggestions to improve the system. Also, the

Administrative Handbook, a useful guide for secretaries, was

completely revised and posted on the Intranet. Furthermore,

the Intranet was used as a tool in the rollout of the MEO-mandated electronic time and attendance (ETA) application. An

ETA subsite was designed and posted so that the Volpe community could learn about the new application and how to use it.

Frequently Asked Questions and a feedback mechanism were

also incorporated into the site for ease of use.

Productivity Improvements

During FY 2005, the Center invested in facility and IT

improvements to promote operating efficiencies (e.g., in 

energy saving technology, improved space use, and common

IT operating environment), employee safety (fire alarm, 

evacuation training), model security technology and 

processing (for occupants and for business generating 

demonstration), and identified practical cuts in FY 2006 

contractor support services to free up more than $1.5 million

for business development, strategic planning, and 

other initiatives.

Successful Implementation of New Federal Personnel

and Payroll System (FPPS) and e-Learning

Management System (LMS)

Due to comprehensive planning and exemplary execution,

the Center’s transition to these systems was seamless. Center

business operations and critical interfaces and data feeds to

institutional systems were not interrupted. The Center’s crossfunctional team approach and its continuous interaction with

Departmental staff were critical factors to this successful migration. Additional best practices were continuous communication

and outreach to the Union and employees, hands-on training of

local users, and beta and parallel testing of security, desktop,

and printing configurations. 

Financial Performance

Accurately accounting for the taxpayers’ money and giving

managers timely accurate program cost information to inform

management decisions and control costs.

New Financial Data Mart Released

The Financial Data Mart (FDM) of the Volpe Center’s

Integrated Enterprise Capability (IEC) Data Warehouse was 

officially released to the entire Volpe community on October 1,

2005. The FDM provides access to consistent, appropriately

maintained, and officially accepted project-related financial

data. The FDM provides the ability to perform the analyses

required to answer typical financial project management 

questions. It provides access to the types of project-related 

financial data and to greater levels of detail than previously 

available from legacy systems. FDM allows for greater flexibility

in accommodating diverse informational requirements for 

project-related financial data.

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 26
The Volpe Center Thanks

Our Fiscal Year 2005 Clients

U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)

Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Highway Administration

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Federal Railroad Administration

Federal Transit Administration

Maritime Administration

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Office of the Secretary of Transportation

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation

Other Federal 

Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board

Department of Defense

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Army

U.S. Navy

Department of Energy

Department of Health and Human Services

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Department of Homeland Security

Transportation Security Administration

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

U.S. Coast Guard

Department of Labor

Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Environmental Protection Agency

General Services Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

U.S. Capitol Police

U.S. Postal Service

State and Local

Arizona Department of Transportation

Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority

California Department of Toxic Substance Control

California Department of Transportation

City of Baltimore, Department of Transportation

City of Chicago, Department of Transportation

City of St. George, Utah

Columbia River Pilots

District of Columbia, Department of Transportation

Fairfax County, Virginia

Maine Department of Transportation

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Massachusetts Port Authority

Washington Department of Transportation

Foreign Entities

Airservices Australia

Iraq Rehabilitation Management Organization 

Nav Canada

United Kingdom Ministry of Defence

United Kingdom Rail Safety and Standards Board

Other

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers

Alstom Signaling, Inc.

INNOVA Fairfax Hospital (Honda)

Medical College of Wisconsin

The University of Alabama (Mercedes)

Wake Forest University (Toyota)

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center: Points of Pride 27
U.S. Department of Transportation

Research and Innovative Technology Administration

John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center

55 Broadway

Cambridge, MA 02142-1093

http://www.volpe.dot.gov