Via Augusta Free Press and ITS news release
President Barack Obama visited FHWA’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, VA last week where he was given a tour of the research and testing facility and delivered remarks on the importance of vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication technology. ITS America also toured the facility alongside the President. Partial remarks by President Obama–visit Augusta Free Press for full transcript.
“As the father of a daughter who just turned 16, any new technology that makes driving safer is important to me. And new technology that makes driving smarter is good for the economy. One study shows that Americans spend 5.5 billion hours stuck in traffic each year, which costs us $120 billion in wasted time and gas – that’s 800 bucks per commuter. Then you’ve got outdated roads and bridges that mean businesses pay an extra $27 billion in freight costs, which are then passed on to consumers. So, all told, transportation eats up more of the typical family’s household budget than anything except the rent or a mortgage – which means that the cutting-edge research that all of you are doing here helps save lives and save money, and leads to new jobs and new technologies and new industries. And that’s why America has to invest more in the kind of job-creating research and development that you’re doing right here at the Highway Research Center.” ITS America also distributed a news release on the event.
