DOT Announces Creation of Port Stats Working Group

The Transportation Department is seeking nominations for representatives to the Port Performance Statistics Working Group, which will form by Dec. 4, DOT said (here). Creation of the group, which will provide its recommendations for the new port metrics program prior to or on Dec. 4, aligns with the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015 and the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Nominations for the working group must be sent by March 24 to Bureau of Transportation Statistics Director Patricia Hu at portstatistics@dot.gov or mailed to Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Attn: Port Performance Freight Statistics Working Group, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, Room # E34-429, Washington, DC 20590.

BTS hopes to attract recommendations for port performance measures, including identification of a “generally accepted industry standard” for port data collection and reporting, statistics measuring U.S. port capacity and throughput, and for developing a process for DOT to collect timely and consistent data, “including identifying safeguards to protect proprietary information,” DOT said. The department is seeking nominees from “a number of federal agencies, organizations, and industries,” it said. A group of international trade associations in a January letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx outlined a number of “key metrics” the working group should consider in its crafting of the port metrics program (see 1601190031).

(Federal Register 2/23/16)