Mineta unveils congestion-relief plan in Salt Lake

Allowing foreign firms to pay to operate American roadways does not threaten national security, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta said during a speech Friday at Salt Lake-based Overstock.com.

In fact, the Bush administration wants more private investment in the nation's transportation systems. It's one of several congestion-relief tools outlined in a new federal transportation initiative that Mineta unveiled for Utahns on Friday.

"The bottom line is that every person and every business in America has a vested interest in reduced congestion," Mineta said. "Congestion does not have to be a fact of life."

Despite criticism that the initiative had no specific funding plan, Mineta said he will ask Congress for $100 million to spread among three to five states using "innovative" congestion-relief ideas like public-private partnerships. The money, if approved, could also go to improve or build new interstate highways.

The Utah Department of Transportation said it will compete to bring some of the $100 million to Utah. "Because we are willing to step out and try some of these new technologies like public-private partnerships, I believe we will fare very well," said UDOT executive director John Njord.

Earlier this year, Utah lawmakers passed a bill allowing the state to enter into public-private partnerships to build toll roads. Friday, the state opened the last part of a 38-mile carpool lane from 600 North in Salt Lake City to University Parkway in Orem. Later this year, it will be turned into a high-occupancy toll lane, where individual motorists can pay to use it.

Mineta was only in Utah for a few hours, but he stopped at Overstock.com's distribution center in Salt Lake City to tour the facility. Companies like Overstock.com — which ships anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 packages a week — are greatly impacted by congestion, Mineta said, speaking in front of a crowd of Overstock employees, who all wore red T-shirts.

Congestion is "one of the largest single threats to economic development" in the nation, Mineta said.

His plan calls for a focus on traffic reduction in major metropolitan areas. He wants cities to expand bus service, promote telecommuting and perhaps offer variable toll rates to travel in and out of the city.

The plan also calls for improved transportation technology to help better-manage traffic. UDOT currently uses a system of cameras called CommuterLink to manage traffic and respond to accidents.

Njord said that Mineta seemed to be looking at "new ways to find solutions to very old problems."

"If we continue to address congestion the way we always have in the past, I know what will happen," Njord said. "We will fail."

To read a complete copy of the plan, go to: www.dot.gov.

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com