REMARKS FOR
THE HONORABLE MARY PETERS
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
TEMPE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
TEMPE, AZ
JUNE 28, 2007
NOON
Good afternoon. And thank you all for that wonderful homecoming welcome!
I appreciate being introduced by Sky Harbor’s new permanent Aviation Director.
That’s terrific news. Congratulations, Danny (Murphy)! We landed at Sky Harbor
this morning, greeted by the new control tower which is providing growing room
for the airport and helping us make travel into the Phoenix area safer.
I want to thank Mayor Hugh Hallman, members of the council, and of course the
Tempe Chamber for your hospitality. I had a terrific visit with Mary Ann Miller
and Catherine Mayorga when they were in Washington D.C. as part of the Arizona
Chamber delegation in April. They filled me in on how light-rail is progressing,
and on plans to get some short-term relief for the notorious Broadway Curve – at
last.
One message that came through loud and clear is that there is a lot of
frustration with the federal government when it comes to transportation. You are
frustrated because gas taxes you pay get detoured and never make it back from
Washington. You are frustrated because funds that are ultimately returned have
strings attached, which reflect Washington’s priorities – not Arizona’s.
You are understandably frustrated with the increasing number of special-interest
programs that siphon federal funds away from road construction and maintenance
that help relieve congestion and with the tortuous federal approval process
which ties up a road from the planning stages to its eventual opening for an
average of 13 years.
Let me assure you that I am working very hard to fix what’s broken with these
policies. I may ruffle some feathers in the process, but I didn’t accept
President Bush’s call to serve as Secretary of Transportation – and put 2,000
miles between me and my home – to perpetuate the status quo. I took the job to
drive changes in Washington that will allow Americans to unlock gridlock and
reclaim their freedom of movement.
Bad – and badly outdated – policies in Washington are producing unacceptable
results in Tempe and Phoenix, and across the country.
Despite a 240 percent increase in federal transportation spending over the last
25 years, congestion has nearly tripled in metropolitan regions around the
United States.
We expect water every time we turn on our faucets and electricity every time we
turn on our lights. We should be able to expect vehicles to move at the posted
speed every trip along our highways.
Instead, here in the Phoenix area, the average rush hour traveler wasted 49
hours in traffic delays in 2003 – up from 15 hours in 1982. Worse, there is no
way to predict whether the commute to the Eastern Valley will take fifteen
minutes, or fifty.
It is time to face the fact that our transportation policies have us headed in
the wrong direction. Projections are that by 2030, Arizona will have the fourth
worst traffic in the country, behind only California, New York, and Texas.
Fast-growing states like Arizona are on a collision course with congestion
unless we recognize the urgent need to change paths.
Sometimes it is difficult for people in other parts of the country to grasp what
is happening in our state. They think of “growth” in terms of the 20 percent the
Census Bureau says the U.S. population will increase from 2000 to 2030.
Arizona’s population will more than double over that same period.
Finding a way to move another five million Arizonans presents a significant
challenge. That is why it is so important to get our transportation policies
headed in the right direction – away from the federal government and back to the
states and localities where innovation in America has always originated.
Perhaps you saw the Time Magazine cover story, “Who Needs Washington?” –
featuring Governor Schwarzenegger and Mayor Bloomberg. The Terminator hit it on
the head when he said, “The great ideas are coming from local governments. We’re
not going to wait for Big Daddy to take care of us.”
That is an attitude I want to encourage. It is the attitude I was raised on here
in Arizona. The only way we are going to keep gridlock at bay is with Arizona’s
policymakers and motorists in the drivers’ seat.
But moving forward will require bold thinking and political courage.
The good news is that states like Indiana, New Jersey, and Texas are already
taking charge of their own destinies. They are reaching out and partnering with
the private sector to get the jump on congestion.
It is no secret that I am a strong believer in the power of free markets and
competition. Public-Private Partnerships can unleash powerful incentives that
respond directly to the failures of our status quo transportation policies.
When I first came to D.C. as head of the Federal Highway Administration, only a
few “policy wonks” were talking about Public Private Partnerships for
transportation. Now, real people – on Wall Street, on Main Street, and in state
houses around the country – are talking about, and embracing this new way of
doing business.
I am encouraged by the healthy dialogue going on in our state about the valuable
role the private sector can have. No state in the country is better positioned
than Arizona to take advantage of these opportunities.
But Arizona’s Public Private Partnership options are limited by restrictions on
tolling. To me, it makes good sense to be able to charge the people who use our
roads directly. Further, tolling provides flexibility to tap into the billions
of dollars the private sector tells me it is eager to invest in transportation
as well as being a proven congestion buster.
Tolls no longer mean long lines of cars waiting at tollbooths as people fish for
change, and we have left behind the infamous days when people paid with chickens
to use Arizona’s toll roads.
This is the technology age, and Tempe is a high-tech center. Through technology,
we do not need to build a single additional toll booth in America; sensors and
transponders can do the work. Through technology, we can even adjust the prices
on a road regularly to ensure that it never becomes congested.
This is not a radical concept. We pay for electricity, water, and phone service
directly through a monthly bill based on the amount we consume. Arizona Power
will give you a better rate for electricity used during off-peak hours.
The technology and private capital available right now can transform
transportation in America. The Department’s Congestion Relief Initiative is
already helping tap this potential and lead us to the transportation system of
tomorrow.
We are currently reviewing proposals from cities that stepped forward to pioneer
cutting-edge antidotes to urban congestion and creative “Corridors of the
Future” concepts to keep traffic moving on key trade and travel routes –
including Interstate 10.
With reauthorization of the federal highway bill on the horizon, we have the
necessary opportunity to create a new transportation model that encourages these
kinds of bold and innovative approaches.
But do not take it for granted that transportation is on the road to the 21st
Century. There are those who remain wedded to the path charted back in the 1950s
– when Tempe’s population had not yet hit 10,000 and I-10 was just a glimmer in
President Eisenhower’s eye.
You are going to hear that all we need to do is rev up the gas tax a few
pennies, and our problems will be solved.
I would advise you to look at the federal model we have today very carefully. My
experience is that the increases seldom flow to the fastest growing states – and
certainly not in proportion to their growth.
Some in Washington are even warning states against trying to use innovative
financing tools to turn the tables on congestion. And I want to compliment
Governor Napolitano for her forceful response as head of the National Governors’
Association.
The Arizona I know and love has always valued freedom, has always believed in
charting its own direction. When it comes to transportation, I am committed to
clearing the federal roadblocks, and I can’t wait for you to show America the
Arizona way to mobility and prosperity in the 21st Century.
Thank you.
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Briefing
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