Welcome to the FastLane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

New technology promises improved safety, greater productivity on the St. Lawrence Seaway

One of the challenges for ships on the St. Lawrence Seaway is navigating the waterway's changing water levels. And because the Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Seaway system supports so many jobs and businesses, we want to eliminate any threat to safe navigation or unnecessary limit to cargo weight.

Now, the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (SLSDC) has announced a new tool that allows Seaway mariners to manage that challenge.

The Draft Information System is an innovative on-board technology that provides real-time information on actual and projected distance between the lowest point of a vessel--its keel--and the Seaway bottom. The system's more precise clearance measurements and the information it provides on nearby depths will give ships transiting the Seaway a greater ability to change course or take other actions for more effective navigation. This will both reduce the potential for vessel groundings and allow ships to carry more cargo by taking better advantage of water levels, bottom depth, and other changing Seaway conditions.

This is an important improvement not only in maritime safety, but also in Seaway productivity.

Currently, the Great Lakes / Seaway system helps support more than 225,000 jobs resulting in $14.1 billion in personal income each year. It also makes possible annual business revenues of $34 billion and carries more than 322 million metric tons of cargo.

As impressive as those 2010 results are, we know we can do even better by increasing the productive navigability of this binational waterway. And that's exactly what the DIS technology will do.

Click here to see a map of vessels currently on the Seaway

High speed rail: right here, right now

This week, the 8th World Congress on High Speed Rail is meeting, and--for the first time ever--it's meeting in the United States. Why now? Because the world's rail manufacturers and operators know that this is an exciting moment to spotlight the progress of high speed rail and improved passenger rail in regions throughout the nation.

Around the world, high-speed rail is not a pipe dream of the distant future. It’s happening right now, and it’s been happening for decades. And thanks to President Obama’s vision, high speed rail is coming to America.

With the country's population expected to increase dramatically in the next 50 years, and our roadways and airways already congested, making it easier and faster to travel between cities is not something we can afford to set aside for later.

Now is the time to put people back to work building a modern transportation network—one that makes our economy strong and gives Americans the options they need. High-speed and higher performing passenger rail are critical to getting the job done.

And DOT is working hard right now to make it happen.

Already, 32 states and the District of Columbia are at work building President Obama’s bold vision for 21st century rail. Our partners are moving forward with 153 high-speed and higher performing passenger rail projects.  This year alone, 45 projects representing nearly $3 billion in federal investment are scheduled to be underway or complete. In fact, 2012 marks the busiest rail construction season to date.