H. Res. 567
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
October 7, 2002.
Whereas prior to 1890, the United States lacked a holistic,
intermodal surface transportation system that linked
rural towns and farmland to urban areas and cities for
the purposes of travel and interstate commerce;
Whereas the emergence of the automobile and truck after
1900 created a public demand and economic need for im-
proved roads, highways, and byways;
Whereas the United States transportation construction indus-
try has built 3,900,000 miles of roadways, 200,000 miles
of freight and passenger railroad track, and 5,800 miles
of mass transit track with more than 2,300 stations;
Whereas the construction of roads and highways requires the
skills of numerous occupations, including those in the
contracting, engineering, planning and design, materials
supply, manufacturing, distribution, and safety indus-
tries;
Whereas by 2020 the number of registered vehicles in the
United States is expected to grow from 225,000,000 to
about 275,000,000, requiring improvements to roads and
highways;
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Whereas America’s freight railroads carry more than 40 per-
cent of the Nation’s intercity freight, including approxi-
mately 70 percent of vehicles from domestic manufactur-
ers and more than 65 percent of the Nation’s coal to
coal-fired plants;
Whereas railroads in the United States originated nearly
33,000,000 carloads of freight, including more than
9,000,000 intermodal trailers and containers, and had a
freight volume of 1,530,000,000,000 ton-miles in 2000;
Whereas on average it costs 29 percent less to move freight
by rail in 2000 than it did in 1981 and 59 percent less
in inflation-adjusted dollars;
Whereas from 1980 to 2001 Class I freight railroads invested
more than $290,000,000,000 to maintain and improve
infrastructure and equipment and reduced the number of
train accidents per million train-miles by 64 percent;
Whereas the railroad industry employed more than 230,000
workers in 2001, including engineers, conductors, clerks,
executives, and maintenance workers;
Whereas railways and railroads move people and commodities
in 
an 
efficient 
way 
and 
contribute 
more 
than
$30,000,000,000 to the economy through wages, fringe
benefits, purchases, and taxes;
Whereas intercity buses provided passenger and package ex-
press service to over 4,000 communities nationwide, most
of which have no other form of public intercity transpor-
tation;
Whereas intercity buses carry over 770,000,000 passengers
annually and provide a variety of services, including
fixed-route, charter and tour, airport express, and long-
haul commutes;
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Whereas intercity buses provide an integral link in the inter-
modal network serving airports, train stations, and tran-
sit hubs throughout the Nation;
Whereas the public transportation system in the United
States includes buses, trolley-buses, vanpools, jitneys,
heavy railways, light railways, commuter railways, cable
cars, monorails, aerial tramways, and ferryboats;
Whereas Americans used public transportation a record
9,500,000,000 times in 2001 and transit ridership has
grown 23 percent since 1995;
Whereas public expenditures to operate, maintain, and invest
in public transportation systems in America amount to
about $23,500,000,000 each year;
Whereas there are more than 360,000 transit employees who
work to operate, maintain, and manage America’s public
transportation system;
Whereas public transit helps to reduce vehicular traffic con-
gestion on roads and highways and leads to cleaner air;
Whereas public transit continues to be one of the safest
modes of travel and helps conserve energy and reduce
America’s dependency on foreign oil; and
Whereas public transit has provided the elderly and millions
of Americans with disabilities expanded mobility and free-
dom to travel United States: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives recognizes
the transportation construction, trucking, railroad, intercity
bus, and passenger transit industries, and those professionals
who design, operate, build, and maintain the rights of way
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along which trucks, freight trains, buses, and commuter
trains travel—
(1) for the immense contribution they make to the
economy by facilitating international and interstate com-
merce;
(2) for their contribution to the freedom of the trav-
eling public which uses roads, highways, and railways for
the purposes of business and leisure; and
(3) for their conscientious effort to improve safety,
increase efficiency, and better the environment in com-
munities throughout the United States.
Attest:
Clerk.