REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION

CONGESTION AND URBAN PARTNERSHIPS NEWS CONFERENCE
NEW YORK, NY

JUNE 7, 2007
9:00 AM

Thank you, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Spitzer, for inviting me here today.

Everyone who travels in and out of this city knows that congestion is a problem. Traffic jams and gridlock mean workers can’t count on consistent commutes, businesses can’t count on prompt deliveries, and families can’t count on getting the kids to school on time day after day. This frustration and unreliability causes both native New Yorkers and tourists alike to stay home instead of enjoying this great city. And, it is estimated that congestion costs the New York region $13 billion every year in lost time and fuel.

Fortunately, the Mayor has a plan to end the snarled traffic that is quickly coming to define this city. His plan will keep the city that never sleeps from becoming the city that never moves.

It cannot be easy for a politician to propose charging commuters more money to enter Manhattan. But the Mayor’s plan is sound and it will work. Major cities worldwide have cut traffic using the kind of congestion pricing being proposed by the Mayor.

That is why I am here to announce today that New York City’s plan has been chosen as a semi-finalist for the Department of Transportation’s Urban Partnership program, which will provide federal investment of up to $1.1 billion to cut traffic tie-ups in America’s most congested cities.

Along with New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle have been chosen out of 27 cities as semi-finalists in the selection process. These nine cities represent one-third of all the congestion in the top 85 metro areas of the U.S., and are home to one-fifth of all the travel that takes place within our borders.

In the next few weeks, we will work with New York and the other eight cities to further evaluate their traffic fighting plans to see if they reduce traffic now – not years from now – and have the ideas, the support, and the will to do what it takes to reduce congestion.

The Mayor’s plan is bold, brave, and long overdue. With a lot of daring, a little luck, and the support of Albany, this plan may just have what it takes to get New York moving again – something that I think most in the Big Apple would have thought was next-to-impossible.

Now, I believe that the Mayor and Governor have a few remarks they would like to make.