GovernmentExecutive.com

The four winners took divergent approaches, demonstrating that "there are many ways of thinking about reinventing travel," one judge said during the re-view session.

The judges also recognized some of those nominated - such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - for following in the footsteps of travel reinvention's pioneers. "The Travel Managers of the Year program has spotlighted a range of progress over the years. Now we are seeing the early innovations being deployed in the field," says Government Executive editor Timothy Clark.

The winners will be feted on Oct. 30 at an invitation-only ceremony at GSA's National Travel Conference 2000. Winners will share their best practices at a conference workshop (for more about the conference, see page 78).

Winners

Transportation Department Office of Financial Management

Problem: Travel is time-consuming to arrange and process, and errors are common.

Solution: Use technological advances to streamline and modernize travel

processes: Develop Web-based self-booking software tailored to government requirements that allows electronic booking and fulfillment of travel, travel agency services and expense processing. Let travelers make travel arrangements in a paperless, electronic environment. Link with travel management centers through existing contracts.

Small groups of travelers within the Transportation Department have tested the new program, dubbed FedTrip. It will be rolled out to the rest of the department by Jan. 1, and eventually will be available to other federal agencies.

Results: FedTrip will benefit agencies, travelers and taxpayers by minimizing travel costs and increasing the quality of travel services. Transportation projects that the program will save $700,000 its first year as an estimated 20 percent of employees book their trips via the World Wide Web. It will also save approximately $350,000 in staff time, because Web-booking is faster than traditional telephone reservations.

Transportation also expects happier travelers, as self-booking allows them more flexibility and reduced errors, and as fewer layers of communication are needed.

Point of view: Judges lauded FedTrip's unique approach and were enthusiastic about its use by other agencies.

More information:
See http://govexec.com/travel/articles/0900travel.htm, attend the GSA travel conference workshop at which FedTrip will be demonstrated, or contact Tim Burke, director of federal travel, at (202) 366-2135 or tim.burke@ost.dot.gov.

Veterans Affairs Department Office of Financial Operations

Problem: Federal travel management is expensive, redundant and fragmented.

Solution: Streamline the process with the federal government's first multi-award, nationwide travel management center (TMC) contract. Cut the number of TMCs serving the department from more than 100 to four. Develop standard performance measures for TMCs, and encourage rating and feedback from travelers and travel arrangers. VA's new approach to travel management went nationwide throughout the department's 200-plus facilities in January 1998. Next, set up an electronic travel system for processing authorization and vouchers, including signature approval. The "One VA Electronic Travel System" facilitates trip planning, confirms reservations, processes expenses, directs reimbursement, and initiates electronic audits, approvals and notification, all while ensuring compliance with travel regulations.

One VA, at the end of its testing stage, will be phased in throughout the department beginning in November. By fall of 2001 it is scheduled to serve the VA's 250,000 employees as well as its 25 million veterans and their families when they travel for medical services.

Results: With consolidated TMC contracts, travelers are reimbursed electronically within 72 hours. Banks are reimbursed electronically for centrally billed travel within one business day. Less time is spent making travel arrangements, and customer service is improved.

With the One VA system, employees will book their own trips, giving more control to travelers and travel arrangers. When in place throughout VA, the system is projected to save more than $2 million a year.

Point of view: Judges lauded the VA programs for being comprehensive. "Their integration of charge cards is one of the best in government," said one judge.

More information: Contact Martha Orr, chief of program services, at (202) 273-9447 or martha.orr@mail.va.gov.

Army Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller)

Problem: To feed 220,000 new recruits for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard as they transfer to their first duty stations, the Army used a costly, paper-based, labor-intensive, manual process to issue and pay meal tickets. Each ticket had to be typed, including the recruit's name, travel order number, transportation number, accounting codes, number and type of meal authorized, and cost. Often, several recruits had to share a ticket. Restaurants collected and sent the tickets to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which manually entered the information multiple times in order to reimburse the restaurants. Because of delays in processing reimbursements, restaurants sometimes refused to honor the meal tickets.

Solution: Use state-of-the-art technology and private-sector business practices to improve the antiquated meal-ticket process. Now, with the "DoD Meal Check Initiative," recruit-processing stations generate meal checks by computer. Restaurants deposit the checks into their banks. Chase Manhattan pays restaurants' banks electronically within 48 hours. DFAS reimburses Chase within 48 hours. No duplicative data entry is necessary. After a four-month pilot, the initiative went into effect at all 65 recruit-processing sites in June.

Results: The automated process saves time and money (and increases satisfaction) for the Defense Department, vendors and recruits. The DoD Meal Check Initiative will save an estimated $1.2 million a year. The cost of issuing and processing a meal check has dropped 93 percent: from $12.25 to $.92. Now recruits always get their own meal checks, so morale is better.

"The meal check is a simple, easy, cost-effective customer-friendly business process that makes an excellent initial impression on new recruits and enhances DoD's recruiting mission," says Sharon Weinhold, director of business practices.

Point of view: Judges were impressed with the program's improved accuracy and productivity and its use of e-commerce tools and partnership with industry. They noted that the concept could be applied to others who now pay their own way while on government business. "You're going to see other agencies picking up on this concept, saying 'I can use it for this, I can use it for that,'" said one judge.

More information: Contact Sharon Weinhold, director of business practices, (703) 693-6562 or sharon.weinhold@hdqa.army.mil.

General Services Administration Office of Governmentwide Policy, Travel Management Policy Program

Problem: With nearly 93,000 federal employees traveling on any given workday, $1.7 billion in lodging expenses a year, and decades of built-up red tape and regulation, the federal per diem program was a breeding ground for confusion and frustration. High on travelers' list of gripes was the difficulty finding a decent place to stay that was convenient to the work site and within the per diem limit.

Solution: Reinvent the per diem program through which federal travelers are reimbursed for lodging, meals and related incidental expenses. Do that by:

Results: The new programs save agencies' money in several ways. With more accurate per diem rates, the reimbursement process will be used less often, and transportation costs also should decline, as hotels can be found closer to work sites. The Preferred Lodging Program will save an average of almost $100 a night in Boston; with more than 100,000 overnight stays there a year, $1 million should be saved in Boston alone. As the program extends to other frequent federal destinations, the savings will grow.

With more accurate per diem rates, travelers also should be more likely to find rooms when and where they need them at an affordable price.

Point of view: Judges praised the per diem reengineering programs as innovative and noted that the lodging program "will have far-reaching benefits as it spreads across the nation."

More information: Contact Bill Rivers, director, at (202) 208-7631 or bill.rivers@gsa.gov.