Volpe Center: Volpe Center Highlights

Information Resources

Volpe Center Highlights - May/June 2000

Director's Notes

The Volpe Center: Its Value as a Federal Resource

This year the Volpe Center is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Originally founded as the U.S. Department of Transportation's Transportation Systems Center, it was established in large part, because of an awareness of a need to improve the nation's transportation system. There was a growing understanding that to do so successfully would require the application of a wide range of technical disciplines and that the required expertise existed in only a few specific areas in the then-new DOT. The Center's name reflected the fact that the founders clearly understood two critical factors:(1) the focus was to be on the application (transportation), rather than on any one specific discipline; and (2) the Center would embody a broad, system-level perspective with the research as only one of its activities.

The occasion of this anniversary provides us with the opportunity to reflect on the history of the Volpe Center and the way its work has evolved. While staying true to its original charter, it has grown and changed in response to the nation's needs, and to the needs of our new international clients. The projects highlighted in this issue reflect the diversity if our current clients and the variety of work undertaken here at the Center. Our focus article, describing a visit by a Chinese delegation, captures the Center's new role as an ambassador for innovation.

Creating the Volpe Center was a bold experiment. There were no equivalent models in the federal government. The Center's official charter was drawn in such a way that a broad range of work could be performed, and a wide range of clients could be served. The Center also began life with the understanding that after the initial year, all funding was to be obtained from the sponsoring agencies (clients) for specific projects, with no direct appropriation or long-term Departmental commitment for support of Center operations. The Center's broad charter, and the necessity to pay its own way, combined to produce a highly entrepreneurial and market-driven organization, continually evolving to provide unique capabilities responsive to changing national needs and priorities, particularly as reflected in Departmental budgets.

The Volpe Center's uniqueness, and hence its value to its customers and the nation, is a result of the way it successfully brings together three elements: (1) a broad understanding of the nature and workings of transportation in general and the U.S. transportation system in particular; (2) extensive professional knowledge and experience concerning the technologies and disciplines now used or potentially relevant to transportation system application; and (3) full understanding of the federal involvement, perspective, and objectives in transportation and their manifestations in particular agencies.

The Volpe Center's special niche and adaptability were created, and are maintained and continually expanded by conducting a broad mix of projects, involving all modes, many agencies, and a wide range of topics. The Center continues to be directly involved with the real-world transportation community- those who use and provide services and equipment, as well as public agencies- and with organizations developing and applying innovative technologies and operational or managerial strategies. The lessons learned, and the contributions to the national transportation enterprise, in carrying out large and complex activities or implementing and deploying innovative technologies or operational strategies are fully as valuable as the research and analysis that underlie the work.

The Volpe Center, as a federal entity, differs from the private sector in that it has no vested interest in outcomes other than knowing it has provided good, solid analysis and successfully posed useful options. Its focus is on defining and solving transportation-related problems and providing the customer with objectivity. The Center's customers receive advice and technical expertise but may go elsewhere for additional services or the provision of equipment. The Center's relationship to its customers is that of an honest broker and trusted colleague. In many instances, professional relationships span decades. For many public agencies, the Center is a source of continuity, stability, and oftentimes corporate memory.

When the Volpe Center was first formed in 1970, its customers were limited to the modal administrations within DOT. In 1986, the Center expanded its client base to include the Department of Defense. Additional work then began to be requested by other federal agencies having transportation and logistics responsibilities, including the Departments of Energy, State, Commerce, and Treasury; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the U.S. Postal Service. International entities such as the Panama Canal Commission also have called upon the Center for its expertise. All customers of the Volpe Center benefit from lessons learned elsewhere that then are applied to their particular situation. The synergy enables the Center to leverage its considerable resources to the benefit of the customer.

The Volpe Center also serves as a facilitator and catalyst for partnerships. As a national resource- an information broker, a partner in innovation- the Center can foster and support these partnerships. State and local government agencies now are taking advantage of what the Center has to offer. When these agencies call upon the Center, they tap into three decades of technical know-how, a network of public and private enterprise, and solid advice. Volpe Center efforts are helping state and local agencies to apply lessons learned across the country to their specific problems, completing the range of governmental organizations benefiting from this expertise.

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