The Bush Administration is requesting $67 billion for 2008 to finance key transportation construction, congestion relief and safety programs, and to provide the framework for reforming the aviation system,
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced Monday.
“Our goal is to deliver a transportation system that frees all of us to make daily decisions confident we can reach our destinations safely, without worrying about how we will get there, or if we can make it on time,” Secretary Peters said.
The Administration is seeking a record $42 billion for highway construction and safety programs, the Secretary said. The FY 2008 budget request proposes overall transportation safety funding of $20.3 billion. This request will fund the aviation and surface transportation safety programs and initiatives. Included in the amount are programs and activities to target areas like motorcycle crashes and drunk driving.
The 2008 budget also requests $175 million to cut traffic congestion by developing commuter traffic information systems, accelerating construction along trade and travel corridors and helping metropolitan areas test new solutions. The budget request includes $1.3 billion for commuter rail and transit projects for urban areas and $100 million for transit projects in smaller towns and rural areas, the Secretary added.
In announcing the budget request, Secretary Peters invited Congress to work with the Department on solutions to financing and managing the nation’s transportation network, noting that the government is spending from the Highway Trust Fund at a rate that is faster than the growth in revenue in part because of the explosive growth in earmarks.
“Freedom is at the core of our American values, but we lose a little more freedom each time we venture into traffic,” the Secretary said. “This budget proposal takes a big step in helping us get our freedom back.”