The movement of people, goods, and vehicles on the transportation system is now critically dependent on how effectively that system is operated and managed. While roadway system expansion is necessary in some key locations and corridors to facilitate this movement and in some case economic development, the construction of new lanes will never alleviate the need for effective transportation operations and management of the system on both existing and new segments. Well-planned, cost effective transportation operations and management strategies can improve mobility, safety, and productivity of the system for transportation users in urban and rural areas.
The FHWA (Federal Highway Administration), an agency of the U.S Department of Transportation, has 3600 employees, a field office in every state and an annual budget of more than $21 billion. The FHWA works with the states and with communities across the nation to build and maintain America’s roads and bridges and ensure a strong intermodal transportation system. The agency also develops and helps regulate safety requirements for commercial vehicle operators and through the Federal Lands Highway Program, works to provide access to national forests, national parks, Indian reservations and other public lands. Lanes for the exclusive use of high-occupancy vehicles, rush-hour use of shoulders, ramp metering, intersection improvements, and other innovative techniques will make ever greater contributions as communities struggle to make efficient use of resources. In the face of growing congestion and a diminishing physical and political ability to add new system capacity, public policy will increasingly focus on improving the efficiency of existing system operations.