Statement in Support of the Development of a Sustainable
National Transportation Information Infrastructure
Our transportation system is a complex and integral part of the nation’s economy and security. Immediate access to information about the system is more critical now than ever, especially as technology advances and the transportation workforce undergoes dramatic changes, including massive retirements.
Information and knowledge are strategic organizational assets. Proper management of information assets greatly enhances organizations’ ability to best use the knowledge of current and former employees, generate innovative solutions to problems, and save time and money. The current approach to managing transportation information assets is ad hoc and decentralized, and the transportation sector urgently needs to create a sustainable national information infrastructure to gain these advantages.
Background
Over the past decade, several reports from all sectors of the national transportation community presented mounting evidence substantiating the need to coordinate transportation information management efforts. Building on this body of research, in 2006 the Transportation Research Board, a division of the National Academy of Sciences, issued the policy study Special Report 284: Transportation Knowledge Networks: A Management Strategy for the 21st Century,1 which further documented the need for coordinating efforts to effectively manage transportation information. In addition to regional and federal transportation knowledge networks (TKNs), the report recommends that a national coordinating body located within the USDOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration provide leadership, infrastructure, support, and coordination for the TKNs. The report also recommends sustainable funding for the TKNs through RITA.
The Transportation Division of SLA supports the recommendations of TRB Special Report 284 and believes the best way to develop the needed information infrastructure is to create transportation knowledge networks and coordinate their development through RITA’s National Transportation Library.
Benefits of Transportation Knowledge Networks
· Create expanded access to knowledge bases and specialists
· Leverage specialized collections and hidden information
· Enable exceptional customer service
· Save time and money
· Facilitate better use of information for decision-making
· Help create innovation
1TRB Special Report 284, Transportation Knowledge Networks: A Management Strategy for the 21st Century, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, www.trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=5789, accessed 9/10/2007
Needed Funding Levels
TRB Special Report 284 recommends that funding for transportation knowledge networks and development of a true information infrastructure begin with federal grants of $3-5 million per year, with increases and a required local match after the first three years. Dedicated funding at that level would enable the framework to be built, and further strengthened after the first three years.
The National Transportation Library was created in 1998 by TEA-21, as part of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. While the National Transportation Library was reauthorized in 2005 by SAFETEA-LU, it has never received any dedicated funding. By comparison, investments in the National Agricultural Library and the National Library of Medicine are much greater than the investments in national information management in transportation, as shown in this table.
FY 2005 funding for national libraries in transportation, agriculture and medicine
National Transportation Library / National Agricultural Library / National Library of MedicineFY 2005 Funding / $1,112,043 2 / $22,413,000 3 / $317,947,000 4
Industry GDP 5 / $344.6 billion / $123.1 billion / $859.6 billion
National library investment as a % of industry GDP / 0.0003% / 0.018% / 0.037%
2Director of the National Transportation Library
3Administrative Office of the National Agricultural Library
4Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005; P.L. 108-447
5[GDP] Value Added by Industry, 2002-2005; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Survey of Current Business, v. 86, no. 12, Dec. 2006
Return on Investment
A 2007 study by Outsell, Inc.6 found that library users reported substantial, quantifiable benefits from involving the library in their information gathering, and government sector users reported that each interaction with the library saved them 12.2 hours on average and savings of $2,575 per use of the library. In addition, two-thirds (65%) of users across sectors used library-provided information to support decisions, actions, and strategies. A relatively small investment of $5 million per year will more than pay for itself in time and direct cost savings, not to mention the incalculable benefits from leveraging research and information for better decision-making.
6 ROI for Libraries Remains High, Outsell, Inc., August 29, 2007, www.outsellinc.com/store/insights/3538 accessed 9/17/2007
Success Stories
From members of the Midwest Transportation Knowledge Network
“I consider the library a necessary component to our success. Due to your efforts ODOT has one of the best traffic monitoring programs in the country.“ Steven Jessberger, FHWA - DC.
“The KDOT Library has been an indispensable resource ... This has meant not only better informed decisions by staff engineers, but an actual savings to the taxpayers of the state of Kansas.”. Bridge Hydraulics Engineer, Kansas DOT
An engineer at MnDOT appeared at the library reference desk after spending two hours searching the Internet for the BTU energy content of various fuels. The librarian was able to procure that information within two minutes from a table listed on the U.S. Energy Department’s Web site.
An internal customer at WisDOT was about to solicit a Request for Proposal on a $50,000 project to determine the demerit point/administrative license withdrawal system used by other states. John Cherney not only had the NHTSA-related study on the shelf but was able to walk it down to general counsel’s office within 15 minutes of receiving the request.