GSA requires e-travel

General Services Administration officials have issued a final rule requiring agencies to use the governmentwide E-Travel Service.

Agencies must submit schedules for moving from their own travel management to the E-Travel Service no later than March 31, 2004. They must implement the system by Dec. 31, 2004, and complete the entire migration by Sept. 30, 2006, according to the final rule published today in the Federal Register.

The E-Travel portal, one of the original 24 e-government initiatives, will allow agencies to plan travel, make reservations and reimburse employee travel expenses while reducing the overall cost of travel management, officials said.

Contracts to provide e-travel services were awarded to CW Government Travel Inc. of San Antonio, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems of Fairfax, Va. and EDS, which was added only after officials protested the original awards. The E-Travel contracts are collectively valued at up to $450 million over 10 years. Implementation of the system is determined when an agency places a task order with a vendor.