PPFSWG 2016 Draft Work Plan

Monday, February 20, 2017

Document

Draft: Port Performance Freight Statistics Working Group 2016 Work Plan

BACKGROUND

The Port Performance Freight Statistics Working Group (hereafter, Working Group) has been created in accordance with Section 6018 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (P.L. 114-94; Dec. 4, 2015; 129 Stat. 1312). The Working Group supports development of the newly-established Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Port Performance Freight Statistics Program. The goal of the program is “tprovide nationally consistent measures of performance” of the nation’s largest ports and treport annually tCongress on port capacity and throughput. The FAST Act requires the Director of BTS tcommission a Working Group tprovide recommendations tBTS on matters related tport performance measures and identifies the membership of this group.

WORKING GROUP ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES: JULY 2016-DECEMBER 2016

Provide short- and long-term recommendations tDirector of BTS
The FAST Act requires the Working Group tprovide recommendations tthe BTS Director on:
- Short-term: Nationally-consistent port performance measures on port capacity and throughput, including specifications and data measurements tbe used in the newly-established Port Performance Freight Statistics Program; and
- Long-term: A process for the U.S. Department of Transportation tcollect timely and nationally consistent data.

The FAST Act sets a due date for recommendations tthe BTS Director of December 4, 2016.

Deliverables:

Member approved Working Group bylaws
Working Group work plan
Chair/Vice Chair approved meeting minutes for each meeting of the Working Group
Working Group recommendation on port definitions
Working Group recommendations on port performance capacity and throughput measures
Working Group recommendations on BTS data collection process

WORKING GROUP KEY DATES AND MILESTONES: JULY 2016-DECEMBER 2016

The table below provides a high-level view of key dates and milestones for Working Group meetings and anticipated activities from June 2016 through January 2017. Additional detail on these meetings is provided on page 3 of this document.

Date	Key Milestones
15-Jul-16	1^st Working Group Meeting
1-Aug-16	Deadline for members to submit preliminary individual responses tthe three questions as interim work product (for three questions, see Table below)
9-Sep-16	Working Group develops Draft Work Plan
23-Sep-16	2nd Working Group Meeting Finalize Work Plan Develop recommendation on port definition Begin discussions on various measures on capacity and throughput Data sources Limitations Strengths
3-Oct-16	Working Group publishes Work Plan for public comment
7-Oct-16	Working Group provides initial recommendation on port capacity and throughput measures
21-Oct-16	3rd Working Group Meeting Continue recommendation development on capacity and throughput measures Develop recommendation on data collection process
18-Nov-16	4th Working Group Meeting Finalize recommendations Develop recommendation report outline Develop schedule
4-Dec-16	Working Group submits final recommendations tBTS Director

WORKING GROUP PROPOSED MEETING SCHEDULE, AGENDA ITEMS, AND ANTICIPATED ACTIONS

In 2016, the Working Group will hold four meetings. The table below summarizes the schedule, agenda items, and anticipated follow-up actions for each of these meetings.

Meeting Date	Agenda Items	Anticipated Follow-Up Actions
July 15, 2016 (meeting complete) 1-day meeting Place: U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, DC	Ethics and confidentiality briefing (Working Group members only) Welcome and BTS guidance for recommendations Summary of FAST Act Section 6018: Port Performance Freight Statistics Program Discuss port definitions and other definitions tbe used for data collection and reporting Discuss port performance measures and port performance data currently available Public comment period Discuss work plan	By August 1, Working Group Members submit responses tthree questions tthe BTS Director for the September meeting: How should BTS define the different types of ports in terms of tonnage, container, and dry bulk? What nationally consistent measures would you recommend for capacity and throughput? How should BTS approach collecting and reporting this information?
September 23, 2016 1-day meeting Place: U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, DC	By August 1, Working Group Members submit responses tthree questions tthe BTS Director for the September meeting: How should BTS define the different types of ports in terms of tonnage, container, and dry bulk? What nationally consistent measures would you recommend for capacity and throughput? How should BTS approach collecting and reporting this information?	By September 30, Working Group approves draft Work Plan for public comment (draft Work Plan posted on Working Group website for public comment) By October 7, Working Group members provide refined guidance on port capacity and throughput measures for October meeting
October 21, 2016 1-day meeting Place: U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, DC	Working Group updates Approve September 23 meeting minutes Present themes on port performance throughput and capacity measures emerging from Working Group refined guidance Seek consensus on Working Group recommendations on port performance throughput and capacity measures including units for measures and specific metrics Develop recommendations on data collection and reporting Public comment period	By November 10, Working Group members provide feedback on preliminary recommendations
November 18, 2016 1-day meeting Place: U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, DC	Working Group updates Approve October 21 meeting minutes Finalize recommendations Develop recommendation report outline Develop schedule Public comment period	By December 4, Working Group’s final recommendations are provided tBTS Director. Working Group’s final recommendations are published in the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) database Working Group final recommendations are summarized in the BTS Annual Report tCongress (due by January 15, 2017)

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