REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
INTERSTATE-15 MEDIA EVENT
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
AUGUST 18, 2008
2:00 PM
Thank you, John [Njord] for that kind introduction.
John and I have been friends a long time and it is an honor to be with him here
today. I’d also like to thank Speaker Curtis for being here today.
Good morning, everyone. It’s great to be in Salt Lake City today to talk about
how to keep this exciting city moving forward.
The Bush Administration just released a comprehensive new plan to refocus,
reform, and renew our very approach to the nation’s highways and transit
systems.
For fast-growing cities like yours, this plan will deliver fewer traffic
tie-ups, better transit services, a stronger economy, and a cleaner environment.
It is a clean break with the past when it comes to transportation in this
country.
Residents and commuters in Salt Lake understand that they can’t fight tomorrow’s
traffic with yesterday’s transportation solutions. Indeed, a study released
earlier this year by the Utah Foundation found transportation and traffic among
the top ten issues driving voter decisions.
That probably explains why, in 2006, Utah took an aggressive step toward
fighting congestion by embracing new high occupancy toll lanes on much of the
I-15. Since then, you’ve nearly doubled the number of vehicles this interstate
can and does carry every day.
Those ambitious efforts continue as you work to include hybrid / electric buses
to your transit fleet and add high speed electronic sensors to the Express Lanes
so you can vary how much drivers pay to use the lanes based on how many people
are on the roads.
These variable tolls as they are called will allow even more cars to use I-15,
make commutes even shorter, and help raise significant new revenue for other
important projects including planned new hybrid bus routes throughout the city.
But the sad truth is that it takes too much time and too much red tape for
states like Utah to get federal funding for innovative approaches like this. I
for one believe that improving traffic in our busiest cities should be a
priority and not a pain.
So our plan makes it easier to fund, review and complete projects designed to
improve commutes, raise new revenue and make cities like Salt Lake even more
attractive places to live and work.
After all, America’s 100 largest metropolitan areas are its key drivers of
prosperity, generating three-quarters of U.S. gross domestic product. We can’t
afford to have that economic engine stalled by gridlocked traffic.
So we re-focus on our urban areas by proposing a new Metropolitan Mobility
Program. This program will provide an unprecedented federal funding allocation
directly to municipalities, according to a funding formula that takes into
account both highway and transit use as well as population.
Under our approach, Salt Lake and other cities will no longer have to slice and
dice every federal dollar to qualify for niche programs that do little to
improve their communities or their commutes.
Instead, under our plan, projects qualify for funding if they stand up to
benefit-cost analysis. Projects that improve commutes, give taxpayers a good
deal and cut congestion get funding. In other words, projects that make sense
move forward.
That’s bad news for those looking to build bridges to nowhere or highways for no
one, but it’s great news for people who want to find a faster and more reliable
way to get from jobs in the city to shopping in the South Valley.
In fact, our proposal will not only put an end to earmarks, it will give states
like Utah greater flexibility to invest the over 10 billion dollars worth of
stale earmarks from previous years that are simply lying around unspent today.
If adding electronic toll sensors and adding new bus routes are as good as local
sponsors say they are, they will be easier to fund under our proposal than under
the current, broken federal system.
They will get done a lot faster, too, because our plan pilots 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.
Trying something new is never easy. But this is a state that’s never been afraid
to embrace something new. And if ever there was a time to rethink our approach
to transportation in this country, that time is now.
We’ve laid out a plan intended to spur local, state and federal debate about how
best to incorporate new reforms into the surface transportation legislation that
Congress will begin work on this fall. Today, I welcome anyone who wants to see
easier commuters and faster shipments in places like Salt Lake to that
discussion.
Thank you. And I will be pleased to answer any questions.
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