Thank you, Milo, for that introduction.
It's an honor to be here.
There's a high level of energy in Fayetteville this afternoon-this energy will serve you well during the next three days of this conference.
It's clear from the theme -"Partners in Transportation Planning" - that you are truly committed to engaging everyone in the planning process.
In light of this month's tragic events, it's more important than ever that citizens put their heads together to address the challenges of modern society.
The great French playwright and humanitarian Eugene Ionesco (EYE-OH-NES-CO) once said: "Ideologies separate us. Dreams and anguish bring us together."
The wisdom of these words is particularly true today.
Because North Carolinians are such a diverse people, it is only natural that our views differ; however, in the end we all want the same things.
We want shelter; we want food; we want clean air and water.
We want the means to make a decent living and we want the freedom to travel safely in our communities.
Freedom itself depends on quality transportation, which is the reason why we are all here today.
I commend this group for taking such a proactive role in your future and I appreciate the opportunity to join forces with you.
As the Secretary of Transportation, it's very important that I have the chance to hear from leaders like you.
My goal is to help Governor Easley fulfill his vision for One North Carolina by bringing quality transportation within reach of EVERYONE.
For the last ten months I have been working on a VIGOROUS AGENDA in support of this effort.
Everyone here has been provided with a copy of my AGENDA CARD, which outlines the department's nine goals and commitments.
I share these with citizens wherever I go because all North Carolinians have a stake in our state's transportation future.
And I'm pleased to tell you that with the help of leaders like you, already we have made much PROGRESS.
We have reached MAJOR MILESTONES toward achieving these goals-I'll share a few of our recent accomplishments with you.
First, one of my top priorities has been to help boost rural economic development by EXPANDING TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE in these areas.
Having grown up in Johnston County, I have always been a champion of our state's rural areas.
It wasn't so long ago that our farm roads helped build our state by MOVING GOODS to the MARKETPLACE.
There's no reason why our farm roads shouldn't continue this tradition and become the spokes in the economic development wheel.
For some time now, we have been working on the development of rural transportation planning organizations-or RPOs-across the state.
RPOs are voluntary organizations composed of local elected officials and local transportation representatives that will serve in an advisory role for the department.
The good news is that less than an hour ago we presented a charter for our first RPO-the Mid-Carolina RPO, which represents the counties of Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett and Sampson.
This effort is a partnership between the counties as well as the Fayetteville MPO-in every way, these RPOs are true to the spirit of One North Carolina.
These RPOs will give leaders in rural areas the opportunity to take the lead in planning local transportation and to help shape the future of their regions.
For the citizens, the RPOs will improve quality of life by providing more local public involvement opportunities in the transportation decision-making process.
More efficient transportation planning in our rural regions will improve economic development across the state, therefore benefiting all North Carolinians.
This is victory that we share with many partners-from the local county commissioners to Mayor Edwin Deaver to Board of Transportation members Mac Campbell and Lanny Wilson.
We plan to make similar announcements very soon as other RPOs are formed across the state.
Please join me in supporting these new organizations-it's very important that we as leaders do all we can to help our RPOs thrive.
Roger Sheats, the department's Deputy Secretary for the Environment, Planning and Local Government Affairs will share more about this new initiative during his address tomorrow.
Having Roger on our team has proven to be very valuable because he also shares my deep commitment to PROTECTING AND IMPROVING OUR STATE'S GREAT NATURAL RESOURCES-which is another priority on the agenda.
When transportation improvements are planned early and with great care, we not only protect the environment, we can also improve it.
Although securing timely environmental permits is one of the department's greatest challenges, we have made much progress in streamlining this process.
Our efforts have not only strengthened the planning process, they have also expanded our protection for the environment through a variety of steps, including:
IMPROVED COMMUNICATION WITH OUR RESOURCE AGENCIES.
Recently we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, laying a solid foundation for expanded cooperation between our two departments.
As part of this pilot, we're also taking advantage of EXPANDED TECHNOLOGY.
We've been working on a system that coordinates existing databases showing the locations of human and natural environmental features across the state.
The new system will help planners avoid areas of the highest impact during the analysis and selection of transportation alternatives.
We've also put in place procedures that will help us IDENTIFY AND RESOLVE IMPACTS on both the natural and human environment much earlier in the process.
DOT's Office of Human Environment was established last year to address impacts affecting the human environment, integrating the units responsible for citizen participation, noise and air quality and cultural resources into one central office.
This office works with local citizens to incorporate community values into the transportation decision-making process as early as possible.
All of these efforts will help save both time and money-and most important of all, provide EXPANDED PROTECTION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES that make our state so special.
We're very proud that our work on this issue has been selected as a national model for departments of transportation across the southern United States and we hope that our efforts will set an example for others facing the same challenges.
Another important goal is ELIMINATING THE HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE BACKLOG, which continues to be at the top of my list.
During the last 50 years, this department invested great effort in road building, earning the name of "THE GOOD ROADS STATE."
This investment certainly paid off because our roads have played a vital role in our state's growth.
But if we want to keep up with the needs of our growing population, we must be able to maintain the roads that we build.
Our state's budget shortfall makes meeting our maintenance needs particularly challenging.
However, we're doing all we can to optimize the funding we do have through internal efficiencies.
Some of the efficiencies that we've implemented include:
All of these initiatives will strengthen our operations as well as improve our efficiency.
We've also been working with the General Assembly on our maintenance backlog.
On Friday, the General Assembly passed legislation that would move at least $150 million each year for the next three years from the Highway Trust Fund for pavement preservation.
This is great news; however, we realize that increasing funding for maintenance is only part of the solution.
Our highways will continue to deteriorate unless we REDUCE THE NUMBER OF CARS on the road.
Our urban areas in particular are choking with increased traffic volumes.
Congestion is frustrating for everyone-it is unproductive, it raises our stress level and it creates unsafe conditions along our highways.
In June, we announced measures to improve traffic flow along I-40 in the Triangle and I-77 in Charlotte-two of the most congested highways in the state.
In the Triangle, we determined that HOV lanes would not work for I-40 at this time; however, we are taking other steps, including the construction of a temporary connector road from I-540 to Slater Road to provide relief until I-540 is extended to N.C. 55.
In Charlotte, we're currently examining the feasibility of an HOV lane along I-77, which will help ease congestion by increasing capacity.
Because new construction alone cannot solve traffic congestion, we are also continuing to implement intelligent transportation systems (or ITS) as an alternative to new construction.
ITS is the application of communications technology to transportation.
Across the state, the department has installed more than 125 traffic cameras, 60 variable message signs, and 15 highway advisory radios to keep motorists informed about travel delays and to provide information on alternate routes.
We manage these systems from four regional transportation management centers across the state.
In support of our ITS initiatives, the General Assembly also passed legislation that would provide $15 million to construct and install high-end technologies such as closed loop traffic signal systems, vehicle detection technology and incident management systems.
These technologies will help but we must also do all we can to offer citizens an alternative to the car-which brings me to our next priority, the development of a MASS TRANSIT SYSTEM.
A mass transit system will not only improve congestion, it will also help us better plan for the future.
That's why we will continue to push for an expansion of rail and public transportation across our state.
We've got exciting plans in the works for passenger rail in the WESTERN AND THE EASTERN parts of our state.
In March we unveiled our plan to bring passenger rail back to Western North Carolina.
This five-phase plan includes operating a bus service from Salisbury to Asheville, renovating or building train stations and beginning passenger rail service in 2005.
In May, we released the results of a study on the feasibility of passenger rail for southeastern North Carolina.
While the work initially focused on a Wilmington to Charlotte rail service, the study ultimately revealed that interest is greater for a rail service that would connect Wilmington residents to the Northeast U.S. Corridor and Raleigh.
Based on this information, we are now analyzing three routes: Wilmington to Charlotte; Wilmington to Fayetteville and Raleigh; and Wilmington to Goldsboro to Raleigh.
On a national level, North Carolina has been working with Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia to extend HIGH SPEED RAIL from Washington D.C.-first to Richmond, Raleigh and Charlotte, then Charlotte to Atlanta/Macon and finally from Raleigh to Columbia, Savannah and Jacksonville.
Sanford Cross, our Public Transportation Director and Pat Simmons, our Rail Director, will be speaking to you tomorrow with details about mass transit across the state.
Throughout the conference you will hear presentations from a variety of NCDOT staff-we appreciate the opportunity to be with you and to update you on the department's key initiatives.
Experience-our own and that of others-is probably the most effective learning tool that exists.
That's what makes conferences like these so valuable.
The timing of this event is particularly significant.
We're in the first year of the two-year cycle for the 2004-2010 TIP-the most important stage in this process-THE INPUT STAGE.
Beginning in October through December, we'll be holding public meetings across the state to discuss local transportation priorities.
In the spring of next year, as we compile this information, we'll be meeting one-on-one with all our MPOs for in-depth discussions of the local priorities.
All of this information will be used in the development of the statewide draft TIP, which will be unveiled in June of next year.
As leaders, you are the department's link with the public and citizens are depending on you to make responsible decisions for their future.
But I know that all of you are up to the challenge-like me, you can't help being energized by the transportation field.
Transportation is exciting because there is MOVEMENT, there is VITALITY and above all else, there is OPPORTUNITY.
I am pleased with our department's success to date but I am far from satisfied-there remains much work ahead.
As Henry Ford once said: "One of the greatest discoveries we can make is to find that WE CAN DO WHAT WE WERE AFRAID WE COULDN'T."
Let's pledge this afternoon to surprise ourselves by just what we can accomplish.
Let's continue the great partnership that exists between this department and the Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and let's welcome our RPOs-starting with the Mid-Carolina RPO-into the transportation planning family.
Let's also continue to work together to fulfill the goals on this agenda card.
Make this agenda YOUR AGENDA AND HELP ME MOVE NORTH CAROLINA FORWARD.
Together we can build the kind of transportation system that strengthens our state and makes One North Carolina a reality.
Thank you for inviting me to join you today and best wishes for a successful conference.