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DOT 167-04
Contact: Brian C. Keeter, Tel: 202-366-0660
Contact: Brian Turmail, Tel: 202-366-4570
Tuesday, September 7, 2004
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Outlines Plans to Fight Traffic
Congestion as Texas Transportation Institute Releases Annual Mobility Report
Secretary Notes Report’s Focus on Immediate Solutions and
Administration’s Traffic Relief Measures
The Bush Administration is promoting innovative, traffic-fighting solutions that
will bring short-term relief to commuters and has proposed record levels of
long-term investment in road and transit systems that would go even further in
reducing congestion, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta said
today.
Secretary Mineta’s comments came as the Texas Transportation Institute prepared
to release its annual report on road congestion.
“The report takes a page out of the President’s playbook on traffic relief,”
said Secretary Mineta. “We need solutions that help drivers now, which is why
the Administration is working to provide states with solutions to get commuters
to jobs, shoppers to stores and families to their homes on time.”
Short-term traffic solutions that the Transportation Department is providing to
states include letting drivers pay tolls to use high-occupancy vehicle lanes,
allowing states to price highways differently during the most congested periods
of the day and using ramp metering technology to better move traffic on and off
of highways. Additional measures include improving traffic signal timing to
match traffic patterns and avoid gridlock and investing in new telephone and
Internet-based information systems to help drivers avoid traffic and
construction.
The Transportation Department’s traffic solutions are helping ease congestion in
numerous areas of the country. For example, at least 22,000 Seattle drivers each
day check an Internet traffic map that provides real-time information on road
conditions, helping motorists steer clear of trouble spots and better plan their
trips.
In Orlando, Fla., more than 130 dynamic message signs along major routes are
routinely updated to provide drivers with current information on traffic and
alternative routes. Orlando drivers also gather the latest reports about traffic
jams, road construction and alternative routes through a service known as “511”
after the number commuters can dial for the information.
Secretary Mineta said the Bush Administration also has proposed record levels of
funding for new highway and transit systems, saying the money will go a long way
to fight traffic over the long-term. The Administration’s proposed funding
levels would mean a 20 percent increase over current spending, without raising
taxes, adding to the deficit or taking money from other programs.
“Today’s report validates what we’ve known all along, the solution to road
congestion isn’t just pouring new concrete and paving new roads,” said Federal
Highway Administrator Mary E. Peters, the nation’s top highway official. “We
want to give states a menu of immediate solutions while we invest record levels
in the nation’s highway and transit systems to fight traffic and build economic
capacity for tomorrow.”
The Departmental traffic relief plan also includes reforms to attract private
sector capital and innovation and move projects from the drawing board to
completion more quickly. The Bush Administration has proposed letting states use
private activity bonds and electronic tolling to find new ways to invest in
transportation systems. And, in 2002, the President signed an executive order to
get agencies to work together to shave years off the environmental review and
decision-making process, Secretary Mineta added.
Peters said the Federal Highway Administration recently released a comprehensive
study that for the first time linked the causes of congestion to proven
solutions and focused on the need to make travel times reliable for motorists.
The report cites congestion-cutting solutions proposed by the Department that
local officials around the country are using to help reduce travel time by
drivers. The report is available at
http://www.ops.fhwa.dot.gov/congestion_report/index.htm.
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