Sean Slone

Automated toll collection at full highway speeds… traffic cameras… optimized traffic lights… roadway message signs… traveler information services. All are examples of intelligent transportation system technologies being implemented in many states that hold the promise of making travel safer, more efficient and less harmful to the environment. A new Capitol Research brief examines how these technologies and others on the horizon can help maximize the capacity of infrastructure, reduce the need for additional highway capacity, improve traffic flow, reduce congestion and emissions, collect real-time data to measure and improve transportation system performance, deliver more benefits at a lower cost compared to heftier investments to build more roads or expand existing roads, and save lives.

More than a year in the works, this report looks back on the implementation of the highway spending in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It examines how states were able to successfully meet deadlines, fund road projects that made an impact on job creation and the nation’s infrastructure, and put in place unprecedented transparency and accountability measures. Included are interviews with state stimulus czars, state transportation officials and others who were on the front lines of the implementation process. The report also includes a series of charts that show where every state stood at various points in the process. The report received funding from CSG’s 21^st Century Foundation. It can be read online at http://www.csg.org/policy/documents/Shovel_Ready_Projects.pdf