GSA pushes agencies toward eTravel

ETravel RFP materials at FedBizOpps

The General Services Administration has published a notice in the Federal Register urging agencies to use FedTrip, a governmentwide booking service, in preparation for the rollout of eTravel, one of the 24 e-government initiatives.

The March 20 notice requests that agencies "immediately develop a plan to achieve a high level of online booking by December 2003. Such plan(s) will prepare agencies for the implementation of the eTravel service, which is expected to become available by December 2003."

GSA intends to require all agencies to use eTravel by the end of 2006, GSA spokeswoman Eleni Martin said. The system will be developed by a vendor partner and made available to agencies as a Web-based service.

GSA issued the eTravel request for proposals (RFP) Feb. 28. The agency wants all responses from vendors by March 28 and expects to award the contract by the summer. GSA expects to sign several agencies to use the system through the second half of the year and wants to have at least one "major" agency using it by year's end.

According to the RFP, the system must support FedTrip at least through Sept. 30, 2004, and include its own booking system as well.