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| FHWA and the Year 2000 Computer Problem |
October 14, 1997
Introduction: What is the Year 2000 problem?
In the past, when data storage on computers was more expensive, it was standard practice to store only the last two digits of the year. For example, instructions embedded in many existing programs automatically join the century digits, i.e., "19" and the year digits, e.g., "97" together in on-screen displays and printouts. This will cause many systems to treat the year 2000 (stored as "00") as the year 1900 unless appropriate changes are made to our information systems. For example, the year 2000 (stored as "00") would be sorted ahead of 1999 (stored as "99") when sorting dates in ascending sequence unless appropriate modifications to the system were made.
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 cannot correctly handle the Year 2000. As an example, date dependent signal timing patterns could be incorrectly implemented at highway intersections if the State or local government's traffic control software does not properly process four digit years. As a result, highway safety could be severely compromised. The Department of Transportation (DOT) is committed to ensuring that the Nation's transportation systems are not disrupted or put at risk by the Year 2000 problem.
Summary of Year 2000 Efforts by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
The FHWA began working 10 years ago to ensure that all of the Agency's information systems will accommodate dates of the Year 2000 and beyond. At that time, the FHWA developed the current version of our Fiscal Management Information System (FMIS) to include four digit date fields in the database. The FMIS system was put into production in April 1989.
The FHWA has been working to prepare all of our information systems for the Year 2000, and we have made substantial progress in modifying our systems. Our Year 2000 work is progressing on schedule; we do not anticipate any problems in meeting the deadlines for completing this work. Given FHWA's early work in dealing with this very complex issue, the agency does not expect to require supplemental funding for its Year 2000 effort.
The FHWA was one of two agencies (the other was the Social Security Administration) that were recently recognized by Congressman Stephen Horn of the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee's information technology panel as having begunYear 2000 repair work years before it gained high visibility.
Phased Approach
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has established a five-phase approach for ensuring that Federal information systems can handle dates of 2000 and beyond. These five phases are: awareness, assessment, renovation, validation, and implementation.
Following is a summary of FHWA activity relevant to each of these five phases:
Phase 1: Awareness
Target Date: December 31, 1996
Status: Complete
Designated Year 2000 Sponsor and Coordinator. In response to the Secretary's October 1 memorandum, George Moore, Associate Administrator for Administration, has been designated as the FHWA Year 2000 sponsor. Earlier, FHWA began this phase by developing a strategy for communicating the Year 2000 problem and by designating a Year 2000 Coordinator: Joseph Tillman of the Office of Information and Management Services.
Information Distribution. As part of the work on the awareness phase, updates on Year 2000 were distributed to the FHWA Leadership Team (composed of our top executives) in July 1996 and July 1997 noting each office's responsibility: (1) to test all local applications they have developed and/or are using, and (2) to ensure that Year 2000 versions of all software have been installed and tested. In addition, a Year 2000 test plan for PC and LAN hardware and software applications was distributed to all FHWA offices in September 1996.
State DOT Awareness. In-depth presentations on the Year 2000 problem were given at the 1996 and 1997 annual meetings of the Information Systems Subcommittee of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and are on the agenda for the 1998 meeting. The State DOTs are all aware of and working on the Year 2000 problem for their information systems.
Operational Transportation Systems. In response to DOT concerns about Year 2000 compliance for transportation systems operated by State and local governments, in August 1997, FHWA's Year 2000 Coordinator met with Headquarters program offices to discuss this issue. They discussed what FHWA needs to do to ensure there are no problems with FHWA-funded activities such as traffic management systems or intelligent transportation systems (ITS) projects.
While the State DOTs are fully aware of and are working on Year 2000, we need to ensure that the transportation systems of our customers and partners are also Year 2000 compliant. Therefore, in October 1997 we asked FHWA field managers to raise the issue of Year 2000 capability for all transportation systems operated by State and local governments in meetings with their external partners and customers. A letter has been sent to inform AASHTO Executive Director Francis Francois that we will be discussing Year 2000 issues in meetings with State DOTs.
Phase 2: Assessment
Target Date: August 31, 1997
Status: Complete
The assessment phase includes defining the universe of the problem and establishing the framework necessary to solve it. More specifically, the assessment phase involves conducting an inventory of all information systems, conducting an evaluation of the Year 2000 renovation work they will need, and developing a plan for each system.
Mission Critical Systems. As part of our Year 2000 inventory and assessment, FHWA has identified mission critical systems as required by OMB. A summary schedule of FHWA mission critical systems can be found at Tab A. Mission critical systems are defined as those systems that will seriously impact FHWA program delivery if they fail due to Year 2000 problems. We have also inventoried our non-mission critical information systems and developed remediation schedules and cost estimates for all of our information systems, and we have also identified internal and external interfaces for all FHWA information systems. A complete inventory of personal computers, laboratory equipment, and relevant telecommunications equipment is maintained on FHWA's personal property accounting system and is available upon request.
To ensure full documentation of our Year 2000 efforts, we have recently reorganized how information on FHWA's mission critical information is presented. Initially, we reported on mission critical systems in three broad categories: Federal-aid systems, Motor Carrier systems, and miscellaneous (data communications and office automation). To provide full documentation, we are now reporting on the individual mission critical systems themselves, including:
Specific renovation work-plans have been developed for each of these mission critical systems and are outlined under Tab B.
External and Internal Information Exchange. We have been working closely with the State DOTs on Year 2000 issues where we receive information from State systems, especially financial data. Based on our analysis, we have determined that no Year 2000 changes are required to the financial data we receive electronically fromthe State DOTs, such as for the FMIS and for the Current Bill (PR-20) system. Internally, we do not expect any interface file format changes for DOT systems (e.g., DAFIS).
Cost Estimates. Using the methodology recommended in the Chief Information Officer (CIO) Council's "Year 2000 Best Practices" document, the FHWA has estimated the costs for each system to correct the Year 2000 problem. The FHWA has developed "experience-based" cost estimates, i.e., estimates were developed by FHWA's computer specialists using their detailed intimate knowledge and their past hands-on development and maintenance experience with each individual information system. This was the most efficient approach because it takes advantage of FHWA's cadre of experienced and knowledgeable IT professionals, who were best able to analyze where date processing, that may be impacted by the century change, occurs in each system.
Costs for Year 2000 work for each of FHWA's mission critical systems are included at Tab B. Costs for Year 2000 work for non-mission critical systems are included at Tab C. An inventory of all non-mission critical systems, including systems without direct Year 2000 costs, can be found at Tab D.
Prioritization. To ensure that all remediation work will be completed on schedule, the FHWA has identified our mission critical systems so that they will receive first priority. Based on our assessment of the work to be done, plans for doing this work, and progress to date, the FHWA will be completely Year 2000 compliant by the OMB/DOT target date of March 31, 1999.
Detailed plans and schedules. The detailed plans and schedules for renovating FHWA mission critical and non-mission critical systems are included at Tabs B and C.
Contingency Plans. For those information systems that are planned to be redesigned as part of our Year 2000 strategy, we have developed back-up contingency plans to modify existing systems in the event that implementation of the new systems is delayed. We have also developed contingency plans in case any new systems that are planned to replace existing non-Year 2000 compliant systems are not ready to be implemented on time.
As part of FHWA's contingency planning, we are making our current Fiscal Management Information System Year 2000 compliant just in case the replacement system we are now developing is delayed for any reason. This will greatly reduce the risk of any negative impacts on FHWA's program delivery due to delays in mission critical new systems.
The Year 2000 strategy for the mission critical Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) is also to replace the system. In this case, the HPMS data are submitted once a year for the previous year; therefore, the data submitted in the year 2000 will be 1999 data. Thus, Year 2000 HPMS data will not be processed until the year 2001. Thereplacement HPMS system is scheduled for implementation in April 1999. This is more than 24 months ahead of the submission window for Year 2000 data which is June 2001 and later. Therefore, in the event the new system is not fully operational, a contingency plan and associated costs for this system will be developed, at a minimum, 12 months before Year 2000 data is processed, which will be during the Year 2000.
However, in the event any FHWA information system Year 2000 compliance effort falls behind its projected schedule, FHWA will redirect the resources necessary to ensure that the system is brought into compliance within the DOT target dates.
Agency-Owned Facilities. The FHWA has also assessed the potential for Year 2000 problems with all facilities owned by the Agency, of which there are only three:
Phase 3: Renovation
Target Date: September 30, 1998
Status: Completed
During the renovation phase, changes are actually made to the information system's data fields, database structures, programs, reports, etc. Many of FHWA's nationwide mainframe-based information systems have already been significantly modified for
Year 2000. For example, the FMIS and the Motor Carrier Information System already have four digit years for all date fields in their databases.
Additional renovation work is already underway for most systems; see detailed reportingsheets on each mission critical FHWA system at Tab B.
Renovation Strategies. There are three primary renovation strategies employed by FHWA to address Year 2000 compliance: (1) completely replacing the existing system with a new Year 2000 compliant system, (2) upgrading the system to make it Year 2000
compliant, and (3) retiring the old system and not replacing it with another because the requirement for the system no longer exists.
Renovation Plans. The FHWA has followed the multi-step approach shown below for systems that are being upgraded to accommodate the Year 2000:
| 9/9/1999 | Multiple "9" edit checks |
| 10/1/1999 | First day of fiscal year 2000 |
| 1/1/2000 | First day of calendar year 2000 |
| 2/29/2000 | Leap year |
Correct as necessary and re-test. Conduct regression test to ensure no new errors were introduced by Year 2000 changes.
Phase 4: Validation and Testing
Target Date: January 31, 1999
Status: Underway
FHWA will conduct all tests required to ensure that systems changes and all new systems are Year 2000 compliant. A schedule of validation and testing activity can be found at Tab B.
The FHWA has already begun testing some of the renovation work that has been done on existing systems and has already begun working with the Transportation Administrative Service Center (TASC) Computer Center (TCC) staff to create a Year 2000 test environment for mainframe-based systems. In addition to testing each element of each system in a test environment, we will also test by changing the system date to a series of dates after 2000 (including the high risk dates previously addressed) and running the system.
Phase 5: Implementation
Target Date: March 31, 1999
Status: Underway
The FHWA will be implementing renovated and new systems according to the schedule set for each individual system. We will not wait until all systems are ready for implementation, but will implement each system when it is fully tested and ready. All systems will be implemented as far in advance of the November 30, 1999, target date as possible.
Departmental and Inspector General Oversight
The FHWA has worked closely with the Office of the CIO and with the TASC Computer Center on our Year 2000 efforts. We have also worked closely with the Office of Inspector General (OIG) on their audit of our Year 2000 program. At the OIG's request, we have provided themwith more detailed information on our Year 2000 efforts than is required to be included in this plan; we will provide additional information upon request.
While FHWA's Year 2000 renovation work is still underway, we do not anticipate any problems with meeting the OMB deadlines to have all renovation work completed by September 30, 1998; all validation testing completed by January 31, 1999; and implementation completed by March 31, 1999.
