January-February 2007, Vol. 73, No. 1

Commissioner's Column

Continuing the Journey

A Roadmap to the 21st Century DOT

By Commissioner David S. Ekern, P.E.

"Leaders are called to stand
In that lonely place between the no longer and the not yet
And intentionally make decisions
That will bind, forge, move
And create history”

House of Delegate’s Address
by Mary Lou Anderson
April 1970

This quote hangs in a frame directly behind my desk. It is something I have carried along with me through several jobs in several states. To me, it describes the nature of what we are called upon to do in public service. We must learn from our history and build on our strengths toward an exciting future. I believe this is what we in VDOT are doing every day.

Together we are on a journey to become a leading 21st century DOT, where we are called upon to build and operate a transportation system that will not only Steps in the Journey improve our daily commutes, but will ensure safety, economic vitality and convenience for generations to come. We have a century-long distinguished history as a strong state DOT. On our journey we must build on those proud traditions and on the true strength of this agency — our people — to evolve into a mobility corporation. I use that term to describe a business that develops integrated, multimodal, intelligent transportation solutions that serve all of our customers.

Through more than 40 listening sessions (more of which will take place in the future) with VDOT staff, elected officials, industry leaders, Commonwealth Transportation Board members, national transportation leaders and citizens of Virginia, three key focus areas have emerged:

Reshaping the Transportation System to meet the expectations of our citizens. This includes delivering projects on time and on budget, but it is also much more. It’s about delivering emergency response services. It’s about finding new ways to address congestion in urban areas and ensure access in rural areas. And it’s about giving our customers transportation choices that meet local needs.
Reshaping the Business to use our funding and staff resources in ways that provide the most benefit to our customers. This includes finding ways to run our business more effectively. It’s also about finding ways to use our funding wisely and to manage taxpayers’ dollars like we do money at home. We need to seek out the best industry practices and high-value technology to deliver better, more timely services. We need to share information, services and resources across district and division boundaries so we all benefit from best practices.
Reshaping the Workforce to build the skills and the leaders we will need in the future. We are an organization of professionals in fields as diverse as engineering, contract management, surveying, technology, design, administration and skilled maintenance crews that work around the clock to provide emergency response. In all of our core business areas, we need to continue to strengthen our skills to fill critical needs.

VDOT Keys to Success

The Right Focus

Getting our customers there safely and reliably
Giving our customers transportation choices
Delivering our work on time, on budget and with high quality

The Right Size

Employing the right skills without growing the size
of VDOT.
Working smarter
Being more flexible

The Right Business Approach

Embracing high-value technology
Privatizing where we can
and should
Retaining public responsibility where we should

You will read throughout this issue of the Bulletin how VDOT staff across the commonwealth are already taking strides to incorporate these elements into their day-to-day work.

VDOT will use these focus areas to address performance measures included in Gov. Timothy Kaine’s Virginia Performs initiative and to achieve our other performance goals. We will add to our Dashboard program, building from its success in encouraging on-time and on-budget delivery of our construction and maintenance projects, and adding measures of accountability. And we will look across all of our geographic, division, district and program boundaries to harmonize VDOT activities.

The single most important measure we can achieve is making a daily difference in the lives of Virginians — making driving safer, making it easier to move people, goods and services throughout the commonwealth and ensuring we deliver 21st century solutions to Virginia’s 21st century transportation challenges.

You are the foundation of these efforts, and because of your hard work, Virginia is, and will continue to be considered a leader among transportation agencies in the U.S.

We are on this journey together. I want to hear from you. In a recent letter to VDOT employees, I asked for you to read this Bulletin and provide me with your ideas for the next steps in the journey. Once you have read the articles, click on the "Share your Thoughts" link. Are there things we should stop doing? What should we do to give the best possible driving experience to the public? What do we need to do to develop employees for the future? I want to know what you think. I cannot promise to implement every idea you send, but I do promise to listen and use as many of your ideas as possible.

Continue with "Steps in the Journey": What will we become? >

Home | Contact the Editor | About this Bulletin | Archives | Print this page

Page last modified: Feb. 23, 2007