WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today Congressman David Wu chaired a hearing on sustainable, energy-efficient transportation infrastructure, including roads, freeways, and networks of stoplights.

Congressman Wu, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, called the hearing to explore ongoing research and development on transportation infrastructure and learn from best practices that are being used in the Portland area.  Information from this hearing will also play an important role in defining our future transportation research priorities in the upcoming surface transportation authorization.  

“Rising gas prices have been hurting families in Oregon, but many of the steps that have been proposed to cut the cost of fuel will not have a measurable impact for years,” said Wu.  “In the meantime, we can reduce fuel consumption and promote sustainability through changes to the transportation infrastructure.”
 
Innovations in transportation infrastructure and technology that can help reduce fuel costs, protect the environment, and make driving more enjoyable include: pavements that incorporate waste materials that would otherwise be landfilled; traffic timing systems that cut congestion; and monitoring devices that warn drivers to take alternate routes around traffic jams.  Many of these technologies could be implemented quickly and would have an immediate impact on fuel consumption.

Portland is a national leader in smart traffic management.  Dr. Robert Bertini, Director of the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium, testified during the hearing that “a broad range of diverse technologies, known collectively as Intelligent Transportation Systems, holds the answer to many of our society’s transportation problems… Combining these technologies in innovative ways and integrating them into our multimodal transportation system will save lives, time, and resources—including benefits such as reducing energy, fuel, emissions, accident exposure, noise, and more.”

Even with Portland’s innovative traffic measures, the Texas Transportation Institute reported that the average person in the Portland area suffered from 38 hours of rush-hour congestion delays in 2005, costing the region a total of $625 million.  Congestion nationwide accounted for 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel in 2007, and the Federal Highway Administration estimates that five percent of that congestion is due to poorly timed traffic signals. If intelligent transportation systems (ITS) could eliminate congestion due to poor signal timing, that’s a potential fuel savings of 145 million gallons of fuel per year.  

“Many of the technologies that we need to save fuel already exist and are being used in Oregon,” Wu said.  “We have linked buses’ on-board computers to traffic lights to reduce idling, installed ramp meters to cut freeway congestion, and installed sensors so that trucks can be weighed without slowing down.  The ITS laboratory at Portland State University helps monitor area systems and recommend needed refinements.”

Other witnesses included federal, state, academic, and industry representatives who addressed their efforts to promote the implantation of innovative materials and technologies, as well as the technical, regulatory, social, and financial challenges to implementing new measures and integrating new materials and technologies into existing transportation networks.  Witnesses told the subcommittee that traffic congestion leads to a loss of economic productivity, wasted fuel, and the rising cost of goods.
 
“Sustainability and energy efficiency are no longer just buzzwords in the transportation community—they are crucial components of a working national transportation infrastructure,” said Wu.  “Building more roads is not the answer. We must use our resources carefully and wisely, and that requires a commitment to reducing the creation of new materials and cutting fuel use.”

For more information, please see the Science and Technology Committee’s website.