The purpose of the Maritime Administration (MARAD) is to foster a safe and environmentally sound U.S. maritime transportation system that provides national security and economic growth. MARAD is the only agency that focuses primarily on the commercial marine transportation system and on having it ready for a variety of critical national purposes. MARAD is interested in risk assessment because of its desire for productive capability and competitiveness, which depend on effectiveness, efficiency, and error-free processes. Theoretically, risk assessment provides a good basis for providing an objective comparison of alternatives. In a broader view, however, the ideal is to have a risk assessment system that says precisely what the level of safety is; then society can decide where to go from there. A challenge is the lack of data, particularly lack of good human factors data.