Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM

United States Sen Daniel Inouye (D-HI), chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has called for modernization of the US transportation system and improved safety standards.

The senator said in a statement that the US transportation system is facing substantial challenges that threaten to gridlock commerce. “More highway, aviation, and port infrastructure must be built; more railway tracks must be upgraded and laid; more intermodal connections must be developed; and the entire system must be managed and maintained more efficiently,” he said.

Scarce fiscal resources compound the challenge of efficiently replacing and expanding the country's aged infrastructure, and the Congressional Budget Office projects the Highway Trust Fund will be depleted by the end of this decade, he added.

Inouye called on DOT to act now to avoid catastrophic breakdowns across all transportation modes in the system and for Congress to find the resources to fund new capacity and safety programs.