HIGHWAY CONGESTION

Our nation’s 50+ year old interstate highway network is fast becoming stretched to the limit. Many parts of it, particularly those along our coasts, are already past the limit in many places. Yet, the environmental, political and capital costs of adding highway capacity render major new interstate highway expansion impractical if not impossible.

One need only drive along one of America’s crowded coastal highways such as I-95 in the East, I-10 on the Gulf or I-5 in the West to experience the stress caused by congestion, not to mention the air and noise pollution created by stalled traffic.

As bad as the situation is today, according to the US Department of Transportation in just a few short years, by 2020, 46% of the nation’s highways will be either “exceeding or approaching capacity”. For urban Interstates, the figure is estimated to be 90%. America needs an innovative solution to attract trucks and cars from overcrowded highways for at least part of their journey.