
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 24, 1995                   TAG: 9502240071
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

HIGH-TECH SOLUTIONS SOUGHT TO HIGHWAY FUND CRUNCH

One way to deal with a decline in highway funding would be to use technology to read vehicle identification numbers and levy tolls on drivers to help pay for roads they use, a federal official said Thursday.

David Gendell, regional administrator for the Federal Highway Administration in Baltimore, was the featured speaker at a Transportation Club breakfast at Virginia Tech.

Gendell's remarks about a possible solution for declining transportation funds was made in response to a question about how the money shortage affects a new federal emphasis on intermodalism, which is the linking of various forms of transportation.

A reorganization of the U.S. Department of Transportation that is under way will mean more emphasis on linking transportation forms, Gendell said.

Legislation to accomplish the reorganization should go to Congress this spring, he said. The plan, announced by Transportation Secretary Federico Pena on Feb. 6, would combine the department's 10 agencies, including the Highway Administration, into three: a new Intermodal Transportation Administration, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard.

In addition to highway planning and safety issues, the proposed intermodal agency would be responsible for rail, pipeline, hazardous materials and transit safety; the planning of transportation projects; and development and management of Transportation Department programs.

Gendell said some consideration is being given to turning over to the private sector two of the department's functions: air-traffic control, currently overseen by the FAA, and administration of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The reorganization follows policy set by the 1991 federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which emphasizes consideration of all forms of transportation when planning is done.

The Clinton administration unveiled a proposed budget for the department this month that would reduce its outlay by 5.1 percent, to $36.9 billion.

Despite those reductions, an increase in funding for the National Highway System from $6 billion to $8 billion has been proposed, along with a 28 percent increase for research and technology, Gendell said.

Gendell called the "smart" road research being conducted at Tech "the wave of the future." It employs technology to manage congestion and make roads safer. He said employment of the technology is a change in emphasis from the construction of transportation projects to their operation.

Securing passage of National Highway System legislation this year to preserve the funding for the system is Pena's No.1 priority, Gendell said. The system includes 155,000 miles - only 4 percent - of the nation's roads, but carries 40 percent of all traffic and 80 percent of tourist traffic. Nearly 3,500 miles of the roads planned for the system are in Virginia.

by CNB