REMARKS AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION NOMAN Y. MINETA

FISCAL 2002 BUDGET ROLLOUT

APRIL 9, 2001

WASHINGTON, D.C.

 

I appreciate your being here to participate in this morning=s press conference.

Frankly, I=m very excited about President Bush=s 2002 budget for the Department of Transportation because the news is positive.  This is not the first budget I=ve seen,   and I know good news when I see it. 

The top line numbers of the Department=s budget came out in February.  And while some reports said that our budget was essentially flat, we all know that when we subtract those one-time 2001 projects, our $59.5 billion dollar budget is up 6 percent.     ne of your colleagues said that we did Aspectacularly, @and I agree. 

Before giving you the news, let me remind you of what we already announced in February.

The President has proposed full funding for:  TEA-21 highway up 6 percent; TEA-21 transit guarantees, up 8 percent; AIR-21 guarantees, up 6 percent; and Amtrak at $521 million.

The budget includes $145 million for the New Freedom Initiative to ensure that transportation alternatives are available to people with disabilities.

President Bush understands that our nation=s transportation system touches the lives of every American every day and is critical to our economy.

Today we are releasing further details about how the President=s budget proposals will enhance transportation safety, mobility, the environment and national security.

Without a doubt, transportation safety is the Department=s number one priority.     The budget includes over $7 billion dollars -- up 8 percent.  This includes:  $400 million to reduce motor carrier fatalities by 50 percent by the year 2009.  The $400 million requested represents a nearly 50 percent increase above the 2001 levels.  

It includes increased enforcement to support opening the southern border and $56 million to build needed infrastructure.

In 2000, preliminary data pointed to a slight decrease in motor carrier fatalities.     We will work to continue this trend.

The budget funds activities to implement the TREAD Act, which requires updating the tire safety standard, increasing crash data collection, developing dynamic rollover tests and improving the safety of child restraints.

Aviation safety funding is up 4 percent to over $4 billion dollars for 2002.  This will help us reach our goal of an 80 percent reduction in fatal U.S. aviation accident rates by the year 2007.  To address the recent increase in runway incursions,   the budget includes $112 million -- up 13 percent.

In 2000, despite an increase in rail traffic, the Federal Railroad Administration's safety efforts resulted in the lowest level fatality rate in two decades.  In order to continue that effort, we are investing $154 million dollars -- up 9 percent.

Also in 2000, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued more than 3,000 mariners.  To sustain this outstanding performance, we propose over $1 billion dollars -- up 12 percent.  And to increase our pipeline safety oversight and enforcement we propose        $54 million -- an increase of 15 percent.

The gap between demand for transportation and the capacity of our transportation infrastructure is what generates the congestion that all of us face on our highways, in our airways and at our ports.

Total investment in transportation infrastructure would equal almost 43 billion dollars in 2002 -- up 39 percent above the 1994-2001 average annual investment.

In the year 2000, about 700 million passengers flew in the U.S., a nearly 43 percent increase in nine years.  By 2010 that figure is expected to reach 1 billion passengers.  We are aggressively working to find solutions to meet that increasing demand and to expand air services capacity.

The $2.9 billion dollars proposed for aviation capital modernization includes funding for delay reduction initiatives such as weather systems and improved automation aids.

While expanding our transportation system capacity is necessary, it is not the only answer to managing growth and congestion.  We will invest $253 million, up 32 percent for Intelligent Transportation Systems.