Board of Contract Appeals
                    General Services Administration
                         Washington, D.C. 20405
 
 
 
                                                 
 
                            August 10, 1999
                                                 
 
 
                            GSBCA 15060-TRAV
 
 
                   In the Matter of NADENE R. ABRAMO
 
 
        Nadene R. Abramo, Binghamton, NY, Claimant.
 
        Judy Hughes, Travel  Policy, Defense Finance and  Accounting
   Service, Columbus  Center, Columbus, OH, appearing for Department
   of Defense.
 
   DANIELS, Board Judge (Chairman).
 
        In May 1999,  Nadene R. Abramo, an auditor  with the Defense
   Contract  Audit  Agency  in  Binghamton,  New  York,  attended  a
   training session in Rochester, New  York.  Ms. Abramo traveled to
   the session in her own  automobile, as authorized.  She requested
   reimbursement for having  driven two hundred miles each  way, but
   the agency  paid for only  172 miles.  Ms.  Abramo maintains that
   the figure she put on her voucher is correct.
 
        The agency calculated the distance between the two cities by
   using  the   Defense  Table   of  Official  Distances'   (DTOD's)
   "practical  mileage"  system.   As  pointed  out by  the  Defense
   Finance  and Accounting  Service, effective  April  1, 1999,  the
   Joint  Travel Regulations (JTR) make the  DTOD "the only official
   source for  [temporary duty]  and [permanent  change of  station]
   travel  distance (except for airplanes)" of civilian employees of
   the Department  of Defense.   JTR C1065-B; see also  JTR C4658-A.
   The DTOD "replaces all other sources used  for computing distance
   (except for  airplanes)."  JTR C1065-A.2.   Given this regulatory
   directive, the  agency's use of the DTOD was correct, and even if
   the distance claimed  by Ms. Abramo was actually  measured on her
   car's  odometer, it  may not  be  used for  reimbursement of  her
   travel costs.  The claim must therefore be denied.
 
        Incidentally,  to  see  whether the  DTOD's  measurement was
   reasonable,   we   queried    an   Internet-accessible   service,
   Mapquest.com,  as to the  distance between  Ms. Abramo's  home in
   Binghamton  and  the   hotel  where  she  stayed   in  Rochester.
   According to Mapquest, the distance is 168 miles -- virtually the
   same as the zip code-to-zip code figure found by the DTOD.
 
                                 _________________________
                                 STEPHEN M. DANIELS 
                                 Board Judge