DATE: Thursday, April 10, 1997              TAG: 9704100374

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   75 lines

DELAYS COST BUSINESSES $40 BILLION ANNUALLY COMPANIES HAVE BIG STAKE IN IMPROVING SYSTEMS, SPEAKER SAYS

Transportation can make or break a business.

Businesses lose about $40 billion annually transporting workers and goods in congested traffic, according to the Federal Transit Administration. Federal Express and UPS say that 5 minutes of traffic delays a day cost them $40 million a year.

Statistics like these are why some businesses are building a coalition, Business for Efficient Transportation, to influence policy on how money is spent on transportation systems.

``Today, more than ever, the movement of goods and services, which is the heart of business, is dependent on a high quality, efficient, intermodal transportation system,'' said Jeffrey A. Rader, transportation programs manager for the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and steering committee member for Business for Efficient Transportation.

``Business leaders have a stake in building and maintaining quality transportation and promoting the federal policies that support it,'' he said.

Rader spoke Wednesday to about 75 Hampton Roads business and transportation leaders at Tidewater Regional Transit's headquarters in Norfolk.

He urged them to support the re-authorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, which empowers localities to decide how to invest federal dollars, whether it be in roads, commuter rail, HOV lanes, buses or bike paths. Different means of transportation are called modes in transportation parlance. A transportation plan that integrates different modes is intermodal or multimodal.

Locally, ISTEA funds have been used for light-rail studies, HOV and ride-sharing programs, express bus service to the Norfolk Naval Base, and the rebuilt Coleman Bridge over the York River.

Money to build a third bridge-tunnel connecting the Southside and Peninsula and a light-rail system between Norfolk and Virginia Beach will, in part, come from ISTEA.

``ISTEA is one of the most important pieces of legislation that affects the business climate,'' Rader said. ``Over the last six years, it has opened the doors to economic growth and business opportunity in many areas of the country.''

The 6-year, $155 billion program expires in September, and Congress is considering a new policy. A strong road-building lobby is seeking to shift control to states' Departments of Transportation, earmark much of the money for road construction, and reduce public participation.

``In your area, you have some incredibly sophisticated transportation problems,'' Rader said. ``You need to make sure the laws work for you.''

Rader credits Atlanta's phenomenal growth to the city's comprehensive transportation network of roads, passenger rail and the airport - some of which was funded through ISTEA. In the past four years, Atlanta has gained 318,000 new jobs, and 600 corporations have relocated there in the past three years.

The backbone of Atlanta's transportation system is MARTA, a commuter rail system which can transport nearly 1 million passengers a day over 1,600 miles. In part due to the popularity of MARTA, for the first time in 50 years there is no freeway construction under way in Atlanta, Rader said.

``How did we do it? We poured money - tax dollars, in fact - into building a sophisticated, fully multimodal transportation network,'' he said. ``We're doing great because of it.''

Rader urged business leaders to communicate their transportation needs to congressional representatives as they consider new transportation legislation.

``Business needs to be at the table when decisions are made,'' he said. ``And not just as individual businesses vested in particular projects, but as a business sector, in support of our regional economy.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Jeffrey A. Rader, transportation programs manager for the Atlanta

Chamber of Commerce and steering committee member for Business for

Efficient Transportation, urged Hampton Roads business leaders to

support the re-authorization of the Internal Surface Transportation

Efficiency Act, which empowers localities to decide how to invest

federal dollars.

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