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July 19, 2007
Session V
Session V: The Cost of Congestion
Friday, July 20, 2007 8:30 AM
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Costs Cross Spectrum
Posted By: TxDOT_Chris at July 20, 2007 10:33:08 AM
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| Jan Brown |
That means delays from congestion cost government, business and people more than $200 billion annually.
Kathleen White chairs the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. She noted that industrial pollution sources are way down, and the new emphasis is on “mobile sources”…cars, trucks, rail, construction equipment.
She talked about TERP – Texas Emissions Reduction Program - and how it helps pay to replace older, more polluting vehicles with newer, cleaner equipment.
Jan Brown, Texas Division administrator for FHWA says congestion costs by affecting the reliability of the highways for moving people and goods….If traffic doesn't move, everything costs more; people change their routines, their activities, and attitudes.
She said USDOT is espousing HOV to HOT conversions, rapid transit, flex time, better incident management, better ITS, public-private partnerships, and planning for new road and rail corridors.
More info:
Final point: Congestion does not have to be a fact of life!
Bill Hammond, CEO Texas Association of Business said that congestion is more than delays…it is less productivity, and higher costs for all goods and services through lost time.
“We can argue about the need, but we have to agree that the need is not being met.”
Cost of Congestion
Posted By: txdot_kap at July 20, 2007 1:32:42 PM
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Jan Brown from the Federal Highway Administration began her speech with a quote on mobility: "Mobility is one of our country's greatest freedoms, but congestion limits the predictable and reliable movement of people and goods, and it poses a serious threat to continued economic growth." The nationwide cost of congestion is $200 billion dollars a year. Several factors to help reduce urban congestion are identified below.
- implement urban partnership agreements
- promote High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) to High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) conversions
- have a meaningful congestion management process
- reduce impacts of bottlenecks
- implement operational and technological improvements, such as real-time traveler info and incident movement programs
- improve traffic timing
Bill Hammond from the Texas Association of Business stated the importance of including business in the road-building process, instead of excluding them. The money being generated in Texas is not meeting the needs of transportation congestion in our state and something needs to be done about it. We need to use public-private partnerships to bring money to our state to build infrastructure with non-tax dollars. We also need to get a louder voice and do a better job educating legislators about how these models work, so they will work with us, instead of against us, as we try to move forward with these innovative financial tools. Instead of turning our backs on businesses and their money because they're from a different state or country, we need to embrace them and focus on how they can help us accomplish our congestion goals in helping get people from point A to B in a timely manner.
