>Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 14:00 -0500
>From: The White House <Publications-Admin at Pub.Pub.WhiteHouse.Gov>
>To: Public-Distribution at Pub.Pub.WhiteHouse.Gov
>Subject: 1999-03-08 Vice President Calls for Measures to Ease Traffic
>Congestion
>Keywords: District-Of-Columbia, Economy, Federalism, Fiscal-Policy,
>Government,
> Infrastructure, Mid-Atlantic-Region, Report, Staff-Report,
> Transportation
>Document-ID: pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1999/3/8/8.text.1
>URL:
>
>http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1999/3/8/8.te
>xt.1
>Delivered-By-The-Graces-Of: White House Electronic Publications
>Precedence: Bulk
>
> THE WHITE HOUSE
>
> Office of the Vice President
>________________________________________________________________________
>For Immediate Release March 8, 1999
>
>
> VICE PRESIDENT GORE CALLS FOR A NEW THREE-DIGIT NUMBER
> TO EASE TRAFFIC CONGESTION, IMPROVE ROAD SAFETY
>
>
> Also, Announces New Tax Incentives to Increase Commuting Options
>
>
> Washington, DC --Building on his livability initiative, Vice
>President Gore launched today a major new Federal effort to help
>communities across the country address traffic congestion and road
>safety concerns.
>
> "This enhanced commitment to easing traffic congestion and
>improving transportation information and options can make a real
>difference in people's everyday lives," said the Vice President. "It
>will help us to build more livable communities, where we can spend less
>time in traffic and more time with our children, our spouses, our
>friends. A parent should not have to be saying good morning and
>good night to their child from a cell phone because they're stuck in
>traffic."
>
> Specifically, the Vice President today:
>
>- Called on the Federal Communications Commission to adopt a new,
> national three-digit telephone number -- similar to 911-- to allow
> Americans on the move access to on-the-spot transportation and
> traveler information, such as road conditions and bus schedules.
>
>- Launched an Administration "commuter choice" initiative that will
> allow employers to offer their employees the choice of taxable
> cash or tax-exempt parking, transit, or vanpool benefits.
>
>- Announced that the Administration would hold a series of
> first-ever regional transportation livability summits over the
> next year.
>
> The measures announced by the Vice President today build on the
>Clinton/Gore Administration's Livability Agenda, announced by the Vice
>President in January. As part of the Agenda, the Vice President in
>January announced a series of proposals in the President's FY 2000
>budget to provide communities with new tools and resources to preserve
>green space, ease traffic congestion, and pursue regional "smart
>growth" strategies.
>
> The Vice President today pledged to work with Congress to ensure
>the passage of these FY 2000 budget items and in developing new
>strategies to provide communities with additional tools and resources.
>
> The Vice President, joined by Transportation Secretary Rodney E.
>Slater, made the announcements before a special White House convening
>of local traffic reporters from across the country. The convening
>marked the first time that such reporters -- representing different
>stations, different companies, and different regions -- have all come
>together.
>
> "I salute the important service provided by your 'eyes from the
>sky,'" the Vice President said. "That there is such a burgeoning
>traffic reporter industry reflects the hunger that citizens have for
>more travel information --and the positive role the government can
>play as a partner in providing that information. It's really about
>improving the quality of our lives."
>
> The Vice President endorsed the adoption of a new national
>three-digit number, a proposal presented in a petition today by
>Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater to the Federal
>Communications Commission. The number would utilize and significantly
>advance the Department of Transportation's fast-growing "intelligent
>transportation infrastructure system," already equipped to assist some
>45 states and cities in providing traveler information. The traveler
>information would continue to be provided by private companies or
>public/private partnerships already delivering this service.
>
> The number would provide information about bad weather,
>construction, or traffic jams that cause delays for businesses and the
>general public as well as information about the status of transit
>buses, ferries, light rail, and other public transportation in local
>communities. In addition, by directing drivers ways from congestion
>and hazard, the number would provide better access for emergency
>vehicles responding to accidents.
>
> The Administration's "commuter choice" initiative will implement
>and make available the provisions in last year's transportation law
>that expand an employer's ability to offer employees taxable or
>non-taxable transportation benefits. This provision will provide
>increased pre-tax transportation options for commuters, and reduced
>payroll taxes for many employers. With "commuter choice," employers
>could offer up to $240 a month in cash and tax incentives for workers
>who park, carpool, use mass transit or bike or walk to work. The
>Department of Transportation (with the assistance of the Department of
>the Treasury) will work with outside groups, communities and the
>private sector to encourage use of the tax incentive.
>
> The Department of Transportation will highlight the importance of
>the commuter choice effort and transportation livability issues in
>general through a series of regional summits over the next year. The
>summits will be held in several cities, including Atlanta, San
>Francisco, and Detroit, with each focusing on a different issue related
>to livable communities and safe transportation.
>
> At the White House event, Secretary Slater was also presented with
>a report on Aggressive Driving by the Surface Transportation Policy
>Project, a nonprofit organization. The report, the first to look at
>aggressive driving rates by local areas and potential factors
>influencing such rates, found that the risk of dying in an aggressive
>driving crash may be higher in places with fewer travel choice and with
>greater suburban sprawl. Secretary Slater noted that the Department
>will undertake more in-depth statistical research.
>
> Kerri-Lee Halkett, the traffic reporter for Washington, D.C.'s Fox
>Channel 5 station, in introducing the Vice President, pledged to work
>with other traffic reporters across the country, to help promote the
>Vice President's Livability Agenda and encourage increased road safety
>and transportation choices.
>
> "It would be the first time traffic reporters have ever worked
>together on something like this. That tells you how important this
>effort is," said Halkett.
>
> ###
>