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REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE NORMAN Y. MINETA
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
RIBBON-CUTTING CEREMONY FOR AASHTO’S 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF THE
INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM
WASHINGTON, DC
JANUARY 23, 2006
NOON
Thank you, Harold Linnenkohl, AASHTO President, both for that kind introduction,
and for your steady leadership of this essential organization. Good afternoon,
everyone, and welcome to Washington, D.C. Thanks for taking time from your busy
schedules to be here for TRB Week.
It’s always great to be among my friends at AASHTO, our partners in delivering
the highway network that is so essential to our continued prosperity and quality
of life. This network of roads is the backbone of the strongest and fastest
growing economy in the world. And that is a tribute to the work that each of you
do, in your states, and in your localities, to keep America moving safely,
efficiently, and reliably.
I know that everyone’s anxious to snip this ribbon, so just let me add a few
words to what Bob and Harold just said. The creation of our Interstate Highway
System took vision, courage, and daring. As we’ve just seen in the video, the
Interstate Highway Act did more to bring Americans together than any other law
of the last century.
The Act guaranteed construction on a pay-as-you-go basis, thus satisfying one of
President Eisenhower's primary requirements -- that the program be
self-financing and not contribute to budget deficits. Dedicated fees, based on
the gasoline tax, are an important – but limited – part of our current system.
But we’re in a new century now. The rules have changed, and it’s time to start
thinking about the next 50 years, and how we’re going to build and maintain
those new roads to keep the economy moving forward.
The Bush Administration has already taken the critical first steps, by signing
into law the largest investment ever in our surface transportation programs.
With our reauthorization measure, SAFETEA-LU, or the Safe, Accountable,
Flexible, Efficient, Transportation Equity Act: Legacy for Users, we totally
rewrote the book.
We recognized, along with you, that there are growing strains on the traditional
ways that we finance highways, and that relying primarily on the gas tax is not
the best long-term approach. That’s why we gave states more flexibility to use
congestion pricing, tolling, and other innovative forms of financing that have
the potential for a better return on transportation investments.
Until SAFETEA-LU, the United States didn’t recognize the global trend toward
private sector participation in highway infrastructure. Now we do. And this
change will allow public agencies to lower the cost of delivering new highways.
Our job is to keep America moving. The Interstate system needs new thinking and
new policies in the face of growing traffic volumes and flattening traditional
revenue sources.
I look forward to working with all of you on the roads of tomorrow. We want to
partner with you on research that will advance the innovation that is so vital
to transportation. You know and I know that we simply can’t rely on the old way
of doing things anymore. I think that President Eisenhower would agree too.
Thanks to AASHTO and TRB for inviting me, and to all of you for being here.
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