WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is devoting a full week of hearings to the worsening congestion problems plaguing America's highways, air travel and other modes of transportation.

"We wasted 6.8 billion gallons of gas in traffic congestion alone in 1999," said U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the Chairman of the Transportation Committee. "If we can resolve this national problem the result would be one of the most far-reaching fuel conservation programs in history.

"This would be a major contribution to President Bush's new national energy policy.

"Last year was the worst on record for airline delays. This summer is likely to be as bad, if not worse. More troubling is that over the next 10 years, aviation passenger traffic is expected to increase by nearly 50 percent -- to more than one billion passengers.

"Chronic and worsening congestion has become one of the most significant problems facing the American transportation system," Young said. "The purpose of this series of hearings is to examine the degree of congestion facing our system as a whole and to examine proposed solutions to the congestion problem."

The following is the "Congestion Week" Committee schedule. All of the hearings will be in 2167 Rayburn HOB.

• Tuesday, May 22nd, 3 p.m. "Obstacles to Rail Infrastructure Improvements"
• Wednesday, May 23rd, 9:30 a.m. "Solutions to Highway Congestion"
• Wednesday, May 23rd, 1 p.m. "Port and Maritime Congestion"
• Thursday, May 24th, 10 a.m. "Airport Runway Construction Challenges"

A live audio broadcast of the hearings will be available on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee website at: http://www.house.gov/transportation

Congestion Problems Plague All Forms Of Transportation

Congestion has become a major national problem: A 1999 study found that, in the nation's 68 largest urban areas, traffic congestion costs motorists a staggering $78 billion annually in wasted time and fuel. From 1982-1999, the amount of time wasted in these areas due to traffic congestion rose from 1.9 to 4.5 billion hours. Even with increasingly fuel-efficient engines, 6.8 billion gallons of fuel were wasted in these cities in 1999 alone due to traffic congestion.

Congestion is affecting all modes of transportation: Our highway system is already severely taxed. In the last 30 years, there has been a 143 percent increase in vehicle miles traveled, but only a 5 percent addition of roads. Extreme bottlenecks exist in metropolitan areas due in large part to the lack of capacity at intersections, freeway interchanges, and functionally obsolete bridges. Positive economic forces create the increases in automobiles and trucks on the roads, but congestion is largely caused by an infrastructure investment shortfall and institutional delays in approval of new infrastructure.

The congestion problem in metropolitan areas is not restricted to highways: Transit ridership has averaged an annual growth rate of more than 4 percent since 1996, producing total ridership of 9.4 billion trips last year and growing congestion on the nation's transit systems. For instance, in the next 20 years, Washington's Metro must spend more than it cost to build the 103-mile subway system just to maintain the rail and bus lines it now operates, which does not even include the funding necessary to accommodate the growing ridership on Metro's system.

Mobility is declining in virtually every metropolitan area: Between 1982 and 1997, motorists in small, medium and large cities experienced an average 200 to 400 percent increase in total highway delay. Even "very large" cities experienced a 100 percent increase in traffic delays. Continued failure to address extreme congestion problems will eventually cause severe economic harm at the national level.

Aviation congestion is reaching crisis proportions: Last year was the worst on record for airline delays. This summer is likely to be as bad, if not worse. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data show that delays in 2000 were up by 20 percent from 1999 and they are estimated to have cost airlines $6.5 billion.

Over the next ten years, aviation passenger traffic is expected to increase by nearly 50 percent, to more than one billion passengers. This growth will place even further demands on our already delay-plagued system. Due to the complex schedules and hub-and-spoke operations of U.S. airlines, adding just a few minutes of delay to each airline flight in the U.S. can create gridlock in our aviation system, with dramatic negative impacts on the economy.

Our national waterways and ports and harbors similarly face worsening congestion problems: The nation's commercial shipping ports, which handle 95 percent of our international trade, face severe access problems on both the water-side and land-side. With more than one billion tons of cargo, valued at $600 billion, passing through our nation's ports each year, we must ensure adequate infrastructure to meet the growing demands of international trade. Additional investment of more than $600 million will be needed for the next five years to keep pace with the growth of commerce.

The nation's inland waterways contain a series of outdated and antiquated locks and dams that, unless rehabilitated or improved, will continue to hinder the movement of coal, grain, and other bulk products. Forty-nine percent of the lock chambers on the system have exceeded their 50-year design lives. With the use of the aging inland waterway system expected to increase, delays are likely to continue to rise.

Our nation's freight and passenger rail systems also face a severe capital shortfall for new and upgraded track, signals and rail cars: A healthy and efficient national rail system is critical to ensuring that freight and people are moved in the most efficient manner.