DOT 57-06
Contact: Brian Turmail, Tel.: 202-366-4570
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Launches New National Initiative to
Tackle Highway, Freight and Aviation Congestion
Calling congestion one of the single largest threats to the economy, U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta today announced a new national
initiative to tackle highway, freight and aviation congestion.
During remarks to the National Retail Federation, Mineta said that “congestion
kills time, wastes fuel and costs money.” He noted that America loses an
estimated $200 billion a year due to freight bottlenecks and delayed deliveries.
The Secretary added that consumers lose 3.7 billion hours and 2.3 billion
gallons of fuel sitting in traffic jams and that airline delays waste $9.4
billion a year.
“Congestion is not a fact of life,” Secretary Mineta said. “We need a new
approach and we need it now.”
The new initiative, the National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s
Transportation Network, provides a blueprint for federal, state and local
officials to tackle congestion, Mineta said. He noted that over the coming
months, the U.S. Department of Transportation will focus its resources, funding,
staff and technology to cut traffic jams, relieve freight bottlenecks and reduce
flight delays.
The initiative will seek Urban Partnership Agreements with a handful of
communities willing to demonstrate new congestion relief strategies and
encourages states to pass legislation giving the private sector a broader
opportunity to invest in transportation. It calls for more widespread deployment
of new operational technologies and practices that end traffic tie ups,
designates new interstate “corridors of the future,” targets port and border
congestion, and expands aviation capacity.
The Secretary also announced that he would convene the Surface Transportation
Policy and Revenue Commission for its first meeting on Wednesday, May 24th. He
said he would task the commission with finding solutions that not only raise
revenue for highway and transit projects, but also reduce the cost of congestion
by focusing more on system performance.
Mineta acknowledged that some of the measures in the plan would be considered
controversial by those he called “wedded to the status quo.” But he added that
new solutions were needed to successfully reduce congestion.
“The bottom line is that every person and every business in America has a
vested interest in reducing congestion,” Mineta said. “We don’t have to let
traffic delays put our lives on hold any longer."
To download a copy of the plan, please go to
http://isddc.dot.gov/OLPFiles/OST/012988.pdf.
The Secretary's remarks can be found at
http://www.dot.gov/affairs/minetasp051606.htm.
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Briefing Room
