...Mary Peters in a February 2007 keynote speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's conference, Moving Enterprise: Transportation and the Global Economy.

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Congestion on America's highways is increasing at an alarming rate and is robbing U.S. citizens of economic opportunity and time spent at home and in their communities. Many observers believe that gridlock is a problem without a solution. However, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) currently is in the process of selecting three to five major transportation corridors in need of investment to reduce congestion and improve system performance--now and in the future--for participation in its Corridors of the Future Program (CFP). The program is a component of USDOT's National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation Network (also known as the Congestion Initiative).

The projects selected as part of the CFP will benefit from many advantages, including possible inclusion on the Department of Transportation Priority Project List (a list of high-priority infrastructure projects under U.S. Presidential Executive Order 13274, Environmental Stewardship and Transportation Infrastructure Project Reviews). Other advantages are accelerated review and conditional approval of features under Special Experimental Project 15 (SEP-15) and expeditious credit assistance.

The Congestion Initiative consists of a six-point plan, including the CFP, designed both to reduce congestion in the short term and lay the foundation for long-term congestion reduction efforts. The CFP is a forward-looking component of the initiative and is specifically designed to encourage States and the private sector to work together to develop innovative solutions to both passenger and freight congestion on the Nation's major transportation corridors. Addressing the congestion crises on these corridors is vital to the economic future of the United States.

Congestion's Effects

According to the Texas Transportation Institute's (TTI) 2005 Annual Urban Mobility Report, congestion in 2003 caused Americans 3.7 billion hours of travel delay sitting in traffic jams and 2.3 billion gallons of wasted fuel. This translates to a cost of $63 billion; however, USDOT calculates the total cost of congestion to be at least twice that. In 2003, in the Nation's 13 largest urban areas, each rush-hour traveler "paid" an annual "congestion tax" of between $640 and $1,600 in lost time and fuel, and spent the equivalent of almost 8 workdays...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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