Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 105 Part 3.djvu/291

 PUBLIC LAW 102-240—DEC. 18, 1991 105 STAT. 2175 (b) FUNCTION. —It shall be the function of the advisory council established under this section to advise the Director of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics on transportation statistics and analyses, including whether or not the statistics and analysis disseminated by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics are of high quality and are based upon the best available objective information. (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The advisory council established under this section shall be composed of not more than 6 members appointed by the Director who are not officers or employees of the United States and who (except for 1 member who shall have expertise in economics and 1 member who shall have expertise in statistics) have expertise in transportation statistics and analysis. (d) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT. —The Federal Advisory Committee Act shall apply to the advisory council established under this section, except that section 14 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the Advisory Committee established under this section. SEC. 6008. DOT DATA NEEDS. 49 USC 111 note. (a) STUDY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the establishment of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the Secretary shall enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study on the adequacy of data collection procedures and capabilities of the Department of Transportation. (b) CONSULTATION. — The Secretary shall enter into the agreement under subsection (a) in consultation with the Director of the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. (c) CONTENTS.— The study under subsection (a) shall include an evaluation of the Department of Transportation's data collection resources, needs, and requirements and an assessment and evaluation of the systems, capabilities, and procedures established by the Department to meet such needs and requirements, including the following: (1) Data collection procedures and capabilities. (2) Data analysis procedures and capabilities. (3) Ability of data bases to integrate with one another. (4) Computer hardware and software capabilities. (5) Information management systems, including the ability of information management systems to integrate with one another. (6) Availability and training of the personnel of the Department. (7) Budgetary needs and resources of the Department for data collection. (d) REPORT. —Not later than 18 months after the date of the agreement under subsection (a), the National Academy of Sciences shall transmit to Congress a report on the results of the study under this section, including recommendations for improving the Department of Transportation's data collection systems, capabilities, procedures, and analytical hardware and software and recommendations for improving the Department's management information systems. SEC. 6009. SURFACE TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 23 USC 307 note. PLANNING. (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

�