GAO Reports on Effectiveness of FMCSA's PRISM Program
The Government Accountability Office has issued a report to certain Congressional committees which states that the effectiveness of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Performance and Registration Information Systems Management (PRISM) program is difficult to measure, and national implementation may not occur for years if PRISM continues as a voluntary program.
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(FMCSA's voluntary PRISM grant program helps states establish information systems connections between state vehicle registration and FMCSA's safety databases, which provide states with updated information on carriers' safety status when carriers try to register or renew registrations with the state.
For states to deny, suspend, or revoke registrations to out-of-service carriers, states must pass legislation enabling them to do so.)
PRISM's Impact on Safety is Difficult to Measure, FMCSA Lacks Resources
According to GAO's report, officials from the 13 states contacted that are denying, suspending, or revoking vehicle registrations of out-of-service carriers and representatives from safety and industry associations said PRISM is worth the effort, but its impact on safety is hard to measure.
An evaluation of the program sponsored by FMCSA in 2007 concluded that PRISM states show some improved safety over time compared with other states, indicating PRISM could have contributed to lower crash rates. However, because all FMCSA programs are aimed at reducing crash rates, isolating PRISM's effect is difficult.
Nonetheless, the evaluation recommended that FMCSA adopt program measures to assess PRISM's effectiveness. FMCSA has not adopted all of these measures for various reasons, including a lack of resources. In GAO's view, applying such measures, while ultimately useful, may be premature since PRISM's success is undercut by the 25 states-including states with the greatest numbers of registered commercial motor vehicles-and the District of Columbia that do not yet have the ability to deny, suspend, or revoke vehicle registrations of out-of-service carriers.
National Implementation May Not Occur if PRISM Continues to be Voluntary
GAO states that national implementation may not occur for years if PRISM continues as a voluntary program. FMCSA data show that, on average, it took states about three years and four months to get to the point where they could deny, suspend, or revoke registrations once they decided to implement PRISM. (The process of deciding to implement PRISM took as little as ten months to more than seven years.)
Officials in states GAO contacted said that PRISM implementation was facilitated by such things as hiring a contractor to help with the program's technical components, and was hindered by such things as difficulty in passing state legislation needed to implement the program.
According to officials in states GAO met with, FMCSA has been helpful in encouraging states to adopt and implement the program, but can do little in other areas, such as when state legislation is needed. GAO states that while there are benefits to a congressional requirement that could lead to speedier national implementation, there are several significant potential drawbacks to doing so (for example, some states may require substantial money to adapt their information systems to make PRISM work) that lead GAO not to recommend such a requirement.
GAO Recommends Evaluation of PRISM When More States Have Denial Authority
GAO recommends that FMCSA measure PRISM effectiveness when a sufficient number of states have the ability to deny, suspend, or revoke registrations to out-ofservice carriers.
GAO Report (GAO-09-495, dated May 2009) available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09495.pdf