REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
REFOCUS. REFORM. RENEW.
TRANSPORTATION PLAN ANNOUNCEMENT
ATLANTA, GA
JULY 29, 2008
10 AM
Good morning, and thank you for being here today. It is great to be
joined by Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Gena Abraham, a true
leader in the transportation community.
Every time I come to Atlanta, I am reminded of why this is such an inspiring
city. Atlanta is a city whose success comes from its willingness to do things
differently.
While other cities located near waterways to take advantage of barge and
maritime traffic, Atlanta’s founders located the new city to take advantage of
burgeoning rail connections.
While much of the South continued to reel from the devastation and loss of the
Civil War, Atlanta set itself up as a leading city of commerce, industry, and
idealism.
And in the 20th Century, while other cities viewed airports merely as a
connecting point, Atlanta saw an opportunity to build a gateway to the world.
You see that willingness to try new approaches right here at Georgia Tech
Research Institute, well known as one of the best problem-solving organizations
in the country. They put theories into action, and their work on fuel cell and
battery technologies is helping make the world a cleaner, safer, and better
place for everyone.
And you see the willingness to try new approaches with Coca-Cola Enterprises,
one of Atlanta’s premiere businesses. Faced with the high fuel prices driving up
delivery costs, they began converting to hybrid-electric trucks. By this August,
they will have the nation’s largest fleet of hybrid delivery vehicles – 142
trucks.
Because they are willing to try a new way to tackle transportation and
distribution – one better suited to the challenges of today – Coca Cola is
cutting energy costs and reducing the company’s carbon footprint.
It is in that spirit that I have traveled to Atlanta to offer a clean break from
the past when it comes to transportation in this country. Today, I am releasing
the Bush Administration’s comprehensive plan to refocus, reform, and renew our
very approach to the nation’s highways and transit systems.
Our plan creates an easier and more sustainable way to pay for and build roads
and transit systems. It will deliver fewer traffic tie ups, better transit
services, a stronger economy, and a cleaner environment. It will make our roads
safer and give Americans new confidence that the money they invest in
transportation will actually deliver results.
Anyone who doesn’t believe it is time for a new approach to transportation
either hasn’t been paying attention, isn’t running a business that relies on
shipping, or doesn’t have to commute to work every day.
Indeed, at a time when Americans have increased their transportation investments
by over 100 percent in the last ten years alone, traffic has increased 300
percent.
Funds are lavished on bridges to nowhere, while projects to everywhere else are
jammed with red tape and regulation.
Some in Washington today are busy devising transportation “jobs” programs that
will run up the national debt – while tens of billions of dollars in unspent
earmarks and untapped funds are allowed to languish.
High gas prices are changing America’s vehicle choices and driving habits. Yet
while fewer and fewer trips are being made to traditional filling stations,
transportation funding for roads – as well as subways, buses, and street cars –
remains tightly tied to a tax on the very fuel that Americans are using less and
less of. Meanwhile, crowded commuters are questioning the sanity of arbitrary
federal funding limits on the amount their cities can invest in transit.
Without a doubt our federal approach to transportation is absolutely broken and
no amount of tweaking, adjusting, or adding new layers on top will make things
better.
It is time for a new… a different… and a better approach.
Our plan does just that by refocusing the nation’s transportation programs.
The federal government will take responsibility for maintaining and improving
the condition and performance of the Interstate highway system. While these
highways represent just one percent of the nation’s roads, they carry over 25
percent of the nation’s traffic and three quarters of the nation’s long-haul
trucks. Making sure this network is safe, well maintained, and uncongested must
be a key federal priority.
We also must confront the fact that virtually every one of our major
metropolitan regions is literally choking on traffic. There is not a commuter in
Atlanta – or just about anywhere else – who doesn’t suffer the woes of
gridlocked roads, absent transit systems, or crowded subway cars. This traffic
not only undermines our quality of life, it poses a real threat to the quality
of our environment and the strength of our national economy.
Under our new approach, planners will no longer have to slice and dice every
federal dollar into niche programs that do little to improve commutes. Instead,
state and local officials will be able to make investments based on what works
and what gets people where they need to go as quickly and as reliably as
possible.
If new subways, street cars, or bus routes represent the best investment,
communities will have greater freedom and significantly more resources to pay
for those projects.
As a part of this focus on congestion, we propose to create a metropolitan
innovation fund that rewards cities willing to combine the powerful mix of
dynamic pricing of highways, effective transit investments, and new traffic
technologies.
And of course, we must refocus and redouble our efforts to make our roads and
bridges as safe as possible. So our plan pursues a strategic, data-driven
approach to improving highway safety.
Our criteria will be clear: make our roads safer. But our requirements will be
flexible enough so states can pursue their toughest safety challenges, whatever
they may be.
Our plan also will reform the nation’s transportation programs. We consolidate
the 102 various transportation programs that have sprouted up over the past two
decades. These programs dilute the effects of federal funding by forcing state
and local officials to fund projects such as recreational trails, while projects
that would make a difference for commuters languish. Under our proposal, there
will be eight core spending programs that are as targeted as they are flexible.
We pilot changes to the federal review process so it will not take the 13 years
on average to design and build new highway and transit projects it does today.
Moving people and protecting the environment do not have to be mutually
exclusive.
We also begin the long overdue process of weaning ourselves from the gas tax. It
is time for our transportation policies to stop contradicting our national
objective to reduce fossil-based fuel consumption.
And it is time to find a funding system that encourages instead of discourages
greater transit use. So we make it easier for states to create infrastructure
banks, expand the use of federally backed transportation loans, and eliminate
federal taxes that discourage private investments in transportation projects.
And we make it easier to implement road pricing, making it easier for states to
take advantage of the over $400 billion dollars available worldwide for
infrastructure investments from the private sector.
The idea is simple: have federal funds leverage new investments in
transportation, instead of replacing them.
Ultimately, our plan will renew the nation’s transportation network because this
new approach will lead to massive new investments in our Interstate highways. It
will lead to more efficient roads and new transit systems in the nation’s
cities. It will bring easier and quicker commutes. And it will cut shipping
times in an economy where every minute of delay can make the difference between
success and failure for our businesses.
Most important, this plan will renew America’s belief in our transportation
network.
Every year, Americans routinely reject new taxes and new debt for transportation
projects. It is not that they don’t want better commutes. They just have no
confidence in the government’s ability to deliver better results. They know the
current approach is failing badly.
The plan lays out the Administration’s framework for completely overhauling the
way U.S. transportation decisions and investments are made. It is intended to
spur local, state and federal debate about how best to incorporate the new
reforms into the highway legislation Congress will begin work on this fall.
If we can show commuters that there is a better way to fund and operate
transportation systems – a better way to get long dreamed of projects off the
books and into reality – then they will believe again.
If they see a system with easy transit connections and reliable service, they
will invest in it. And if they see roads that flow – even in the morning and
evening – they will pay for them.
I speak to you this morning in a city that knows what it means to be rebuilt and
reborn.
I ask you to join with me in seeking a new approach to transportation in this
country.
Trying something new is never easy. But we must if we are going to keep cities
like Atlanta competitive and clean. We must if we are going to keep our economy
vibrant and vital. And we must if we are going to get America moving again.
Thank you, and now I would be happy to answer any questions you have.
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