New Blog on the Block

It’s always great to see transportation issues put into focus in new and exciting ways, and I wanted to bring to your attention a new outlet for discussion hosted by NationalJournal.com.  Today, they launched their new Transportation Expert blog where each week, transportation professionals will focus on a different question or challenge.

The inaugural discussion focuses on priorities for the next surface transportation bill—a great topic, if you ask me.  I’ve posted my thoughts, as has our friend, Secretary Norman Mineta.  Check out our posts, and let me know what you think!

-Secretary Peters

Comments

[Frozen Yogurt Machine]

Good info. I always get this feeling when I see re-surfacing going on when I dont feel it is needed. Sometimes it just seems like there is money that needs to spent so they go out and fix a road.

[Capricorn86]

This article is a bit outdated actually being written in 2008. It is weird news to read because things are different in today's times. The department of transportation is one of those being considered for budget cuts due to the deficit. Surface issues are not so important.

[My Poodle Skirt Costume]

I live in an area of the country that has massive amounts of highway construction going on. I know it will be good when it's all done, but it's so hard to live through it. I guess I should just be glad for progress.

[James Morgan - Puritan Financial Advisor]

The inaugural discussion focuses on priorities for the next surface transportation bill—a great topic, if you ask me. I’ve posted my thoughts, as has our friend, Secretary Norman Mineta.

[OrlandoTaxiGuy]

It definitely helps to have nice roads and good infrastructure for any area . Take for instance Orlando area
where I live they always fix roads and widen them to absorb
the traffic and that's a big plus with the tourists and visitors especially the ones from overseas as I always get compliments from foreign tourists as I am driving them in my taxi about how massive and in good condition our roads here are .I hope we keep up the good work !

[otoemlak]

We should allocate more tax money to transportation

[Sam Sloane]

Transportation is going to be one of the key issues in the coming century, I'm glad there is a forum to discuss them.

[Sam Sloane]

I would really like to see more investment in alternatives to cars, like fast rail. We are behind the rest of the world in this area and a fast train system would allow us to catch up and remove some cars from the road.

[Sam Stone]

I've moved a lot around the country and the roads in Texas are probably the best, we should strive to have freeways of that level in the rest of the country.

[chandler realtor]

Transportation has been part of our daily lives. Its comforting to know who is behind it!

[water filtration expert]

I think the US has some of the best roads in the world. Living in the UK, the roads are incomparable to the US, makes a nice change driving when i'm over there

[Joost]

Ingrid wrote on June 8th: Better rules about transporting livestock that help with going green are needed I think! Perhaps people would change there focus to eating more local produce and reduce emissions produced from unnecessary transport.
I completely agree with her. I'd like to add an argument about the animal welfare. Sometimes livestock is placed in a truck for more than a day! Transportation of livestock? OK, but not at the expense of the health of animals.

[Popeye Costume]

Can exit ramps to the left really make that much of a difference? I know my city is continually upgrading our highways and some of the ramps are left exiting; they really are just confusing at first. Maybe it's just a matter of learning which lane to stay in.

[Performer5]

They're actually starting to pull their finger out and redo the roads around here!

[Kathy Walker]

Maybe I'm way out of line but what about going back to our train system for more of our transportation? I lived in CA for years and in the Port there were tons of trucks leaving to go cross country, yet we have the makings of an excellent rail system, which could potentially save us plenty on roads.

Food for thought, anyway!

[Jim Stalnaker]

Making sure our roads are in good shape should be of paramount importance. When they are not in optimal condition it significantly affects not only our safety but our productivity as well.

[Interstate Car Transport]

Being in the transportation business I know of the importance of good roads. Lately I haven't seen too much road construction at all although its obvious in some areas we are in serious need. Citizens should get involved when contracting out construction companies to do this service, one because we need to repair the worst roads first, and not get ripped off by over bidding companies to save our cities and counties money.

[Phimosis J.]

One of the greatest challenges with transportation is a growing population. This means that we have to create more fuel efficient vehicles, expand infrastructure, and expand on public transportation. If we do this correctly, we will have less vehicles on the road, more people taking public transportation, there will be less traffic jams and less polution..... I am really glad you mentioned this as its one of the more important issues we need to resolve.

-PJ

[Hassan The Magnetic Sign Maker]

I totally agree with what you're saying. traffic congestion rates are increasing everywhere...its just insane, i mean how hard can it get for a simple guy to get to work?! America's roads are still big...take a look at the UK, the most you'll get is a dual carriage way and if you find an empty one during the work hours, consider yourself blessed!

[Kevin the 203k loan guy]

Not only is fixing and maintaining roads a must for safety among other things, but it's a reflection on the integrity of America. We have the best road system in the world. If we fail to care about it, it doesn't send a good message to us the citizens or to anyone visiting our nation.

[Tony the meet women artist]

Its great having good roads and highways. last time I was in the states I really enjoyed driving. Well at least you know that gouvernment is investing there tax money for the people. where I am living, thats not the case. All the streets are in very bad shape, and gouvernment argueing that the dont have money. Congrats to the us politics for keeping the roads in good conditions.

[Christopher "European Domain Centre" Hofman]

Great, I just saw their blog post about distracted driving. I´m amazed that car manufacturers dont make it even easier for alternatives to the handheld device.

[Joe]

Surface transportation is such a crucial issue - my feeling is that Government should take a greater role in removing City/State anomolies in spending, to better facilitate transportation throughout the country.

[SIP Trunking]

It is interesting to note how differently transportation, licensing, road resurfacing and many of the points listed above are handled in Europe, especially in Germany. Glad to see an outlet for our home transportation discussions!

[David Maslow, the contact lenses guy]

Decreasing traffic anywhere and speeding it up is a great thing. It needs to be done more!