DOT Set to Award $1.1 Billion to Fight Traffic Jams
U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters announced June 7 that nine U.S. cities are semifinalists for a grand total of $1.1 billion in federal funds to fight traffic jams. The cities are Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.
Peters said she will announce the winners by mid-August. The semifinalists have prepared proposals for DOT's Urban Partnership program. "We're asking cities to try something different, innovative, and daring when it comes to fighting traffic," she said during a news conference in NYC.
The nine cities certainly are deserving: They represent one-third of all highway congestion recorded among the nation's largest 85 cities, DOT said. Twenty percent of the nation's vehicle miles occurs in these nine cities. All of their proposals include tolls based on traffic volumes and increased transit service for residents, Peters said.