DOT Chief Envisions Private Sector Dollars Helping to Modernize Networks

WASHINGTON - Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced on Tuesday a White House initiative to relieve highway, aviation and freight congestion, largely with the help of user fees and tolls.

The plan includes fast-tracking a modernized air traffic control system and building extra-wide interstate highways that could serve as "corridors of the future," he said.

Because of "trucks stalled in traffic, cargo sitting on the dock at overwhelmed seaports (and) airplanes circling over crowded airports, congestion is costing America an estimated $200 billion a year," he said.

Mineta, speaking to the National Retail Association, said the administration has developed a National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation Network, a broad blueprint for federal, state and local cooperation.

With the help of more airline user fees, truck tolls and other types of private fees, government will use "existing transportation networks better and add capacity where it makes the most sense," he said.

For example, the Transportation Department is seeking $100 million from Congress help pay for the building of transportation corridors that might involve toll lanes for semi-trailer trucks, as well as tracks for commuter trains and space for large power lines, a department spokesman said.

Creating a corridor could involve connecting unfinished roads, widening existing ones or building entirely new stretches of roadway.

"We will embark upon a competitive process to select three to five 'corridors of the future' that have the greatest potential to relieve traffic based on current and projected growth patterns," he said.

Also, transportation officials will prod bus systems to "tailor services specifically for rush-hour commuters; speed up the review process for highway projects under way and seek commitments from major employers in the region to allow more of their employees to flex their schedules and/or telecommute," he said.

To accomplish the goals, states must "open up their transportation infrastructure to private investment opportunities" because tax dollars are scarce, he said. At the same time, "major financial institutions and their clients are expressing increasing willingness to invest billions of dollars in roads and airports."

Mineta said trucking industry officials have said they would accept toll roads, as long as they included truck-only lanes.

Without providing details, Mineta also said the White House would push Congress to change the funding structure of the Airport and Airway Trust Fund by moving toward user fees instead of larger taxes on passenger tickets and fuel.

He promised to "set ambitious permitting schedules for these projects ... without sacrificing appropriate environmental protections."

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