By Ron Thaniel
June 19, 2006

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta joined the mayors at the June 5 Plenary Session to announce a new initiative to address highway, freight and aviation congestion.

Introducing Mineta, Conference President Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill said, “Congested highways and airport runways, transit demand exceeding resources, and crumbling bridges and tunnels are urgent reminders of the transportation infrastructure crisis that is jeopardizing metro economies and the nation’s economy.”

Mineta, the longest serving Department of Transportation Secretary in U.S. history, said, “Over the coming months the Department would focus federal resources, funding, staff and technology to cut traffic jams, relieve freight bottlenecks and reduce flight delays.

Mineta added, “Congestion doesn’t have to be a fact of life.”

“We are not going to let transportation be the chokepoint of our economic activities,” said Mineta.

Each year, Americans lose 3.7 billion hours and 2.3 billion gallons of fuel sitting in traffic jams and waste $9.4 billion as a result of airline delays. “Congestion is costing America an estimated $200 billion a year,” Mineta stated.

Highlighting the proposal, Mineta said, “It calls upon the leadership of the Department to establish Urban Partnership Agreements with selected communities and encourages states to pass legislation giving the private sector a broader role in investing in transportation. It calls for more widespread deployment of new technologies and practices that end traffic tie ups, designates and funds new corridors of the future, takes on port and border congestion, and expands aviation capacity.”

“Congestion is not an insurmountable problem. But solutions will require a smarter approach to capacity expansion and improved productivity of existing transportation assets,” Mineta said.

To download a copy of the initiative, please go to the website http://isddc.dot.gov/OLPFiles/OST/012988.pdf.