Before I begin my remarks, I'd also like to thank Dr. John and the Volpe Center for hosting this conference. I'm proud that DOT is sponsoring these symposiums on the future of transportation. Maybe the academic environment here in Boston encourages a longer view. The short-sightedness typical of Washington is especially inappropriate for those of us concerned about transportation, both because our decisions take so many years to put in place and because our actions affect so many other parts of life. Transportation already generates one-sixth of our Gross Domestic Product and employs millions of Americans.
Transportation touches literally everyone's life in very direct ways.
Indeed, it's so much a part of our daily lives that those outside of the profession rarely think about how it affects them, until they're stuck in traffic or their plane is stacked up over an airport. The impacts of transportation go well beyond the economic costs caused by insufficient capacity and an aging, deteriorating infrastructure that lacks adequate investment. We have increasing travel demand, combined with a need for greater efficiency and an expectation of greater mobility. For example, our teenagers, women, and senior citizens now play larger and more fulfilling roles in society than they did a generation ago, and each of these groups produces unique sets of transportation needs. The number of Americans killed in transportation incidents is on the upswing again in spite of improved protective technology, and may increase further if laws that foster safe behavior are repealed.