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Urban Partnership AgreementsAUCKLAND ~ US Federal Highways Administration announces short list cities for 'fight-congestion-now' funds. |
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Urban Partnership Agreements
| AUCKLAND ~ 8 June 2007 ~ US Federal Highways Administration announces short list cities for 'fight-congestion-now' funds Trip Convergence Ltd has received the details of the short list for the multi million dollar programme in the U. S. to help cities fight congestion. The company has been monitoring developments as it sees a key opportunity for the HOVER Flexible Carpooling system as part of the solution. "For short term impact, a very cost effective solution is to ask people to share more rides. HOVER makes it easy for people to share more rides", according to Trip Convergence Ltd Cofounder and CEO, Paul Minett. "So far we have been seeking a small scale beta trial for our system. Another approach would be for a large city such as one on the short list, to test HOVER as part of a larger programme. There is no question in my mind that the autorities will have to provide parking if they want to get people to leave their cars and use alternatives. Our system enables people to flexibly decide when they will share a ride" he said. More details on the programme: Nine cities have been selected by the U.S. Department of Transportation as semi-finalists in the "Urban Partnerships" programs. Under this program, the U.S. DOT is seeking proposals from metro areas to implement a comprehensive policy response to urban congestion, including demonstrations of variable tolling or congestion pricing, enhanced transit services such as BRT, increased use of telecommuting, and deployment of advanced ITS technology. From the nine semi-finalists the Department plans to select up to five "Urban Partners," which it will support with financial resources, regulatory flexibility, and technical assistance. The nine semi-finalists are Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami, New York City, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. Winners will be announced in mid-August. The program commands significant discretionary resources. These include up to $100 million from the ITS Congestion Mitigation Operational Tests program, up to $30 million from the Value Pricing Program, up to $260 million in other FHWA discretionary funds , up to $715 million in FTA discretionary funds and $150 million in President’s FY08 energy budget proposal— for a total of over $1.2 billion |
