I've been Secretary for more than six months now and being a part of this community for many years has prepared me well for this role.

This experience has guided me as I help Governor Easley build One North Carolina -- a state where EVERY COMMUNITY MATTERS and EVERY PERSON COUNTS.

• Cities like Fayetteville form the backbone of One North Carolina. It's no surprise that Fayetteville is our sixth largest city.

It's an important hub of economic activity for southeastern North Carolina -- and it's home to our unique Airborne and Special Operations Museum.

• Now that the museum has been open for a year, I'm happy to say that we have had more than 265,500 people visit the museum -- bringing in more than $861,000.

It's easy to see why the museum is so popular -- it features airborne transportation history.

And we all know that transportation is a fundamental part of our daily lives. It is one of the few constants in life.

Think about it. Whether you mail a letter or eat an apple, you’re dependent on some form of transportation—from the jets that deliver our mail to the freight trucks transporting our food.

When you go to the store or church, you’re counting on some form of transportation to take you there.

And the Department of Transportation is one of the most diverse and encompassing agencies in the state.

We oversee:

• 78,000 miles of state-maintained highways;
  
• 74 publicly-owned and nearly 300 privately-owned airports;
  
• more than 3,000 acres of wildflowers and bike paths;
  
• one of the nation's largest Adopt-A-Highway anti-litter programs;
  
• the second largest ferry system in the nation -- with 25 vessels along our coast and 3 inland ferries;
  
• 17 publicly-owned urban transit systems and carpool/vanpool services;
  
• Carolinian and Piedmont trains; and
  
• 3,400 miles of railroad tracks -- 406 of those miles are owned by the North Carolina Railroad.

That's why it's so important to stay focused on what's important.

I've set an aggressive agenda to improve transportation here in Fayetteville -- and the state.

I've put these on cards, which I'm sharing with you today.

(HOLD UP CARD)

They include:

• Eliminating the maintenance backlog.
  
  • For too long we have failed to address the maintenance needs of existing roads.
  • Generations before us gave us a network of access to all areas of our great state, thereby enabling us to be called "The Good Roads State."
  • We must not let this system deteriorate further; to do so would require even greater financial outlays in the near future.

• Protecting and improving the state's natural resources;

• Reducing congestion to enhance continued growth in urban areas;

• Providing transportation infrastructure to help rural areas prosper;

• Improving operating efficiency by maximizing existing resources and by seeking new ways to perform traditional tasks;

• Planning and expanding mass transit.
  
  • Our state's success in attracting industries has reinforced the need for us to focus more on how we can help our citizens arrive at their workplace more easily and in a less stressful state.
    
  • We must begin now to plan these solutions.
    
  • We must adopt aggressive positions and move forward.
    
  • Governor Kerr Scott took a similar position some 50 years ago with his vision to get citizens out of the mud.
    
  • We must now move forward with plans to get our citizens out of the traffic jams.

  Here we have the Fayetteville Area System of Transit (FAST) which operates 19 buses and 4 vans Monday-Saturday.
  

  • Last fiscal year, we provided FAST with more than $400,000 in operating funds and more than $8,000 for computer equipment.

• Improving rail, aviation, bicycle, ferries and other alternative means of transportation;

• Ensuring that all citizens have a voice in transportation decisions which affect them; and