GSA E-Travel mandatory

Federal agencies are now required to use the General Services Administration's E-Travel Service for travel arrangements and employee reimbursement.

Agencies must submit schedules for moving from their own travel systems to the E-Travel Service by March 31, 2004. They must begin moving to the system by Dec. 31, 2004, and complete the migration by Sept. 30, 2006, according to the final rule published Dec. 22, 2003, in the Federal Register.

The E-Travel portal, one of the 24

e-government initiatives, will allow agencies to plan travel, make reservations and reimburse employee 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 of Plano, Texas.