Statement of Senator James M. Jeffords
"Mobility, Congestion and Intermodalism”
Good afternoon everyone. And
thank you for joining us for the third in our series of hearings on the
reauthorization of the nation’s surface transportation program.
I also want to extend a warm welcome to our witnesses who have traveled
from near and far to be with us today.
I look forward to hearing your testimony.
The subject of today’s hearing is congestion -- a nuisance that every
person in this room has experienced at one time or another. Congestion is one of the nation’s most vexing
problems, particularly in our metropolitan areas and on the highway system in
those areas.
Beyond the general frustration that congestion imposes on commuters
everyday, it has significant negative impacts on our economy, delaying freight
delivery and creating inefficiency.
Congestion also harms the environment and, as such, presents a threat to
human health.
In today’s hearing, we hope to uncover some fresh ideas on
transportation demand, access, mobility and program flexibility. These new ideas may become part of our
contribution to the ten-year legacy of the Intermodal Surface Transportation
Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st
Century (TEA-21).
With the passage of ISTEA and TEA-21, our transportation program
shifted its emphasis from building the Interstate Highway System to a new focus
- the movement of people and goods. In
metropolitan areas, where congestion is of greatest concern, this new “Post-Interstate”
program empowers citizens and local officials to develop transportation
improvement strategies, tailored to the unique needs of their metro
region. The law also provides spending
flexibility so that funds could be targeted in ways that will carry out local
strategies. Gone for the most part are
rigid funding categories. Funds can now
be moved among programs to meet local needs.
In today’s hearing, we will explore lessons learned about our surface
transportation program over the last ten years. We will look at trends in
travel and congestion. Our witnesses
will forecast future conditions to give us a context for reauthorization. Then, based on those lessons learned and
changing conditions, our experts will share their ideas for improving our
transportation program.
Our first panel will address congestion measures, describing past
trends, present conditions and future forecasts:
Alan Pisarski is chairman of the Transportation Research Board
Committee on National Transportation Data Requirements and Programs; and the
Committee on Transportation History. He has worked in transportation policy for
over 30 years.
Dr. Timothy Lomax is a Research Engineer for the Texas Transportation
Institute (TTI) at Texas A & M University. Dr. Lomax’s most recent study, “The 2001 Urban Mobility Study,”
uses a variety of measures to illustrate the nation’s growing traffic problems.
Our second panel will present ideas to address access and mobility:
The Honorable Ron Sims was elected King County Executive in
1997. Home to the City of Seattle, King
County is Washington State's largest county. Mr. Sims is founder and organizer
of the Metropolitan Congestion Coalition, bringing together metropolitan
elected officials and business leaders nationally.
Anthony Downs is a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in
Washington, D.C. His 1992 book, Stuck
in Traffic is among the most widely read on the subject of metro area
congestion.
C. Kenneth Orski is the director of MIT’s International Mobility
Observatory, and editor and publisher of Innovation Briefs, a newsletter
on surface transportation. He also
heads the Urban Mobility Corporation, a Washington, D.C. based consulting firm.
Frederick P.
Salvucci, also from MIT, is a Civil Engineer and a Senior Lecturer specializing
in Transportation. Mr. Salvucci is the former Secretary of Transportation of
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and presently serves as senior advisor to
number of urban transportation programs.