Y2K Thanks from Secretary Slater and Deputy Secretary Downey

The roots of the Year 2000 computer problem date back to the time when data storage on computers was so expensive that it became standard practice to store only the last two digits of the year in computer systems. The problem now is that years stored as "00" or "01" would be considered to be the years "1900" and "1901" by these older systems. Another potential Year 2000 problem lies in operational transportation systems such as traffic signal systems run by State and local governments that may also have embedded programs in their hardware and/or software that cannnot correctly handle the Year 2000.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) began taking a strong action on the Year 2000 computer problem in the late 1980s. At that time, FHWA designed the Agency's flagship information system, the Fiscal Management Information System (FMIS), with 4-digit date fields. In September 1997, the FHWA was recognized by Representative Steve Horn, Chair of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee's Information Technology Panel as being one of two Federal agencies (the other was the Social Security Administration) that began Year 2000 repair work well before anyone in Congress knew there was a problem. Since then, FHWA has made great strides towards making all FHWA information systems and technology Year 2000 compliant.

In conjunction with the Year 2000 approach recommended by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), FHWA updated the Agency's comprehensive Year 2000 Compliance Plan in October 1997. FHWA also submits quarterly updates on our progress on our Year 2000 program to OMB. The FHWA has met all target dates and is on schedule to complete all Year 2000 corrections to our systems on time.

The FHWA coordinates our Year 2000 program closely with the Office of the Secretary of Transportation and with the Year 2000 programs of the Transportation Administrative Services Center (TASC) Data Center, which provides a countdown of how many days remain before the Year 2000 begins. The Federal Chief Information Officer's (CIO) Council also coordinates Year 2000 efforts throughout the Government.

A major concern of the FHWA and the Department of Transportation is how ready State and local governments are for the Year 2000 for their own information systems and for the operational transportation systems that they run, such as their traffic management systems, traffic signal systems, and other Intelligent Transportation Systems they operate. FHWA's field office managers are discussing the Year 2000 readiness of these transportation systems operated by State and local governments in meetings with our external partners and customers, using Year 2000 Questions to Ask to guide their discussions.

Although some people assume that new Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) software packages are Year 2000 compliant, this is not always the case. A COTS database has been established so that potential users of software packages can find out if the software is in fact Year 2000 ready.