GSA seeks system for gathering governmentwide travel data

The effort to establish a governmentwide electronic travel booking system has moved along two tracks: the Pentagon's Defense Travel System and civilian agencies' eGov Travel Service.

But a recent request for proposals from the General Services Administration aims to bridge gaps between the two by creating a central database for collecting relevant travel data from both. It would include information on flights, hotel bookings and auto rentals, and would be used to produce management reports on government travel trends.

The deadline for proposals for the full and open competition was July 24. The award will be an indefinite quantity, indefinite delivery, fixed unit price contract with a one-year base period and four one-year options, according to the GSA solicitation. An industry source familiar with the request said it is significant that GSA is asking for a proven, commercial product, rather than a system that has to be developed from scratch.

The government has faced challenges to implementing standardized travel booking systems.

The Pentagon's $474 million Defense Travel System was originally scheduled to launch as early as 2000, but for a variety of reasons, it has yet to be fully deployed.

Troubled by the program's cost and schedule delays, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., secured an amendment to the fiscal 2007 Defense authorization bill (S. 2767) that would force the Defense Department use a fixed fee-for-service method of paying for DTS. Under its existing contract with Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, the department pays an upfront price for owning the system.

Differences with the House version, which does not include the amendment, must be resolved in conference committee. Coburn will not take part in those negotiations because he is not a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over the bill.

The Federal Travel Regulation mandates that all non-Defense agencies fully deploy General Services Administration-approved electronic travel systems by Sept. 30, but according to a March 2006 report from GSA's Inspector General Office, at least eight agencies do not expect to reach full deployment by then.

Several agencies have switched system providers, delaying implementation. Most notably, the Justice and Agriculture departments decided to re-bid their contracts originally held by Electronic Data Systems Corp.

Agriculture has since signed a contract with Northrop Grumman, but the Justice Department has yet to re-sign with a provider. The Social Security Administration is the lone holdout without a system provider.

Other agencies experienced delays in awarding contracts, and many wanted to upgrade their financial systems before merging with a travel system that relies heavily on financial data, the IG report stated.

Because of schedule slippages, usage rates of the travel systems have been lower than expected, the IG said. Since the eGov Travel program management office is funded by fees based on usage, the office has experienced shortfalls in revenue, the report stated.

A coalition of small travel agencies concerned that they would be cut out of government travel business under the new systems attempted last year to eliminate the system entirely through the House version of the fiscal 2006 Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill. But the coalition's efforts resulted in a compromise measure that required at least 23 percent of all subcontracted dollars for eGov Travel to go to small firms.

The Senate version of the fiscal 2007 Transportation-Treasury appropriations bill (H.R. 5576) again contains the small business target, while the House version of the bill does not mention eGov Travel.