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THE SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20590 |
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September 2006
My fellow employees:
I am pleased to present the United States Department of Transportation's Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2006 - 2011. This Plan builds upon our progress in improving transportation in the United States and shows how we will work together to lay the foundation for a new transportation model that will be needed to support America’s economy in future years.
President George W. Bush and I recognize that transportation improves our quality of life and fuels the engine of economic growth. We understand the nexus between continued investment in infrastructure and our Nation’s prosperity. But today this connection is compromised by challenges facing our transportation system, and there is a gap between the demand for transportation services and investments to meet that demand. Although the economy is robust and jobs are being created, this growth cannot be sustained without a safe, reliable and efficient transportation system.
When implemented, this Strategic Plan will place America’s transportation sector on a trajectory leading to a more technologically sophisticated network capable of moving larger volumes of people and goods with higher levels of safety, more reliably, and more efficiently than we have today. We start this journey by reaffirming our commitment to improved transportation safety - the Department's premier goal. This Strategic Plan describes how we will target our safety initiatives to improve safety levels and take advantage of technological advances.
For the first time in our history, we have made congestion reduction a strategic goal. We launched the National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network, to signal a new era of Federal leadership in the transportation sector. We will integrate congestion reduction as a priority throughout our programs and apply our expertise and resources to help our partners throughout the sector utilize their existing networks better and add capacity where it can reduce congestion.
We recognize that our international work contributes to America’s prosperity by enabling access to foreign markets. This Strategic Plan addresses global connectivity where transportation plays a central role. We will liberalize transportation markets, expand the capacity of freight and passenger transportation systems, and practice positive engagements with foreign partners to improve system linkages on both the foreign and domestic sectors of the transportation chain.
We will work to achieve a balance between environmental challenges and a safe and efficient transportation network. Current data reveal that transportation is exerting pressure on the environment world-wide, and commercial and personal transportation are projected to increase in the future. This Strategic Plan describes how we will reduce pollution and other adverse effects from transportation to protect the environment.
We have introduced a new area of strategic interest comprising issues that have become salient in the post-9/11, post-Hurricane Katrina era — Security, Preparedness and Response. It is critical for all transportation providers to define their roles in preparation for emergencies that may affect the viability of the transportation sector.
Finally, we cannot achieve our strategic goals without vision, leadership, customer focus and a culture that values teamwork, innovation and continuous improvement. This is an era when partnerships between government and industry will be needed to achieve our goals. By working together we will achieve results that benefit taxpayers and the Nation. I appreciate your work in developing this Strategic Plan and urge you to put it into action building on the substantial progress we have made in improving transportation in the United States.
Maria Cino
Acting Secretary