DOT Touts Highway Relief Campaign

Today U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta underscored the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) push to provide immediate relief of traffic congestion. His statement coincided with the upcoming release of the Texas Transportation Institute annual congestion report.

DOT’s solutions include tolls for drivers to use high-occupancy vehicle lanes; allowing states to price highways differently during peak hours; using ramp technology to better move traffic on and off the highways; improving traffic signal timing; and investing in telephone and internet-based systems to inform drivers of traffic conditions.

For example, currently 22,000 Seattle drivers each day check an Internet traffic map that provides real-time information on road conditions, and in Orlando over 130 dynamic signs along major routes are updated routinely.

“Today’s report validates what we’ve known all along, the solution isn’t just pouring new concrete and paving new roads,” said Federal Highway Administrator Mary E. Peters.