TECHNOLOGY FOR WORK AND TRAVEL

For the transportation community, images of 2020 portray a safe, congestion-free, structurally sound, fully integrated surface system that promotes personal mobility and fosters national economic productivity. However, predicting the future of surface transportation is risky, because our concept of the future is grounded in today's technology and systems. As the Interstate Highway System nears completion, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and the National Highway System (NHS) are promoting the use of advanced intelligent transportation system technologies to improve the capacity and safety of that system for the next generation of drivers. Researchers are developing technologies that allow traffic managers to coordinate regionwide systems that control traffic flow. These include remote-sensing and satellite technologies to monitor real-time traffic conditions and adjust signal timing, ramp metering, and electronic toll collection. More than 100 products developed under the Strategic Highway Research Program are improving concrete pavements, bridges, and other structures. Satellite technology also assists mass transit. The intelligent transportation infrastructure (ITI) initiative is targeted for 2005. Accepting the challenge of ITI and meeting the goals of the NHS mean that our nation's commercial and travel interests will have the best surface transportation system that creative, innovative technologies can devise.