Dept of Transportation to reach high levels of safety with $68 bn

05 Feb '08

2 min read

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters said President Bush's $68 billion budget for the U.S. Department of Transportation funds the Department's critical safety programs, provides financing for much-needed congestion relief programs for the nation's roads and airways, and honors the six-year transportation funding commitment under SAFETEA-LU.

“This budget helps us move forward on a new course that delivers high levels of safety, takes advantage of modern technology and financing mechanisms, and eases congestion with efficient and reliable transportation systems,” Secretary Peters said.

The Secretary said almost one third of the budget will go toward safety programs to help make travel safer by focusing on problem areas like runway incursions and near misses in the air, motorcycle crashes, and pedestrian injuries. The budget also provides funding to hire additional safety personnel, such as air traffic controllers and pipeline inspectors.

In addition, the budget places a strong focus on fighting congestion, building on the Department's efforts to identify and implement new, innovative ways to fight gridlock on the roads and in the air, the Secretary said. To help supplement these efforts, the budget also provides a record $10.1 billion for transit programs.

“If last-year's record traffic jams and flight delays taught us anything, it is that traditional approaches are not capable of producing the results we need to keep America'seconomy growing,” Secretary Peters said.

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