ERMUSR MISC. ISSUES 01-13-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Trsarnc Road delays will cost $80 billion next year and rise 7% a year. SNARES The tab includes the loss of 4.5 billion hours of productive work and nearly 6 billion gallons of fuel wasted by vehicles in traffic jams. Motorists are socked $50 billion a year for damage caused by bad roads. Traffic congestion threatens to add 5%-10% to the cost of goods by 2010. Of course, the decline in quality of life for commuters is incalculable. Highways will get MORE congested, even with a fresh dose of money from the big highway funding bill that Congress will approve next year. In 10 years, time spent in road delays will increase by about 50%. . . more in L.A. , San Francisco, Houston, Washington, D.C. , San Jose, Calif. , San Diego, Denver. Seattle, Austin, Texas , Chicago. Atlanta ___ Detroit. STUCK IN TRAFFlC That will force changes for businesses: 40 Larger inventories for some manufacturers Annual Hours of Delay and retailers who can't afford to take chances. 30 (par parson In urban warm' Reworked delivery schedules to make better use of less hectic periods, such as early morning. 20 More logistical technology, such as ID chips, global positioning systems, traffic monitoring 10 , I and so on, to prevent goods from being waylaid. Traffic management will help some: More controls 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 to feed cars onto freeway ramps. Signal lights Saurus; Toad Transportation Ina,KIpIInp r that adjust to conditions. Better coordination of police, rescue and towing personnel to clear accidents more quickly. A common electronic toll-paying system among roads, bridges and tunnels. And by about 2010, devices in vehicles to warn of road hazards ahead. Connections for cargo are headed for overhauls. About 2% of future federal highway money will be earmarked to improve land, sea and air connections. New tunnels and overpasses, like those being built as part of the L.A./Long Beach port, aim to end transfer bottlenecks. Bridges require special attention to avoid major disruptions. Almost 30% need repair, and new ones are needed in crowded metro areas. The price tag for the repairs alone is more than $9 billion a year. Weight restrictions and closures are sure to become more common, especially in older cities such as N.Y. Repair funds are lacking. Railroad upgrades are falling short. At $6 billion a year, funds are about $2 billion below what is needed to handle heavier use. For Amtrak, there will be more slowdowns on cross-country routes. More government-private financing deals will provide some help, getting projects moving. Innovative arrangements like the one devised for Calif. 's $3.4-billion Alameda Corridor offer prospects of progress. Additional funds are coming for mass transit, but not enough to modernize an aging fleet of buses and railcars. Deferred maintenance is likely to cause breakdowns. Fares and local taxes are sure to rise. Waterway shippers will have to make do. There's just no money for expansion, even though more cargo is moving on U.S. waterways. Many locks and dams are old, and the $1.5 billion a year Uncle Sam spends barely covers required maintenance of the 238-lock transportation system. Air For new forecasts daily and instant online access,go to KiplinaerForecasts.com/star