DOT launches initiative to tackle congestion

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) unveiled on Tuesday a new initiative to tackle highway, freight and aviation congestion. Over the coming months, the U.S. DOT will focus its resources, funding, staff and technology to cut traffic jams, relieve freight bottlenecks and reduce flight delays. The initiative will seek partnership agreements with 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. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta is tasking the Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Commission, convening next week, to find solutions that raise revenue for highway and transit projects, but also reduce the cost of congestion by focusing more on system performance. To download a copy of the plan, visit isddc.dot.gov/OLPFiles/OST/012988.pdf