Office of the Secretary of Transportation December 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

In May 2006, the U.S. Department of Transportation (the ``Department'') announced its National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America's Transportation Network (the ``Congestion Initiative''), a bold and comprehensive national program to reduce congestion on the Nation's roads, rails, runways, and waterways. One major component of the Congestion Initiative is the Urban Partnership Agreement (``UPA''). The purpose of this Notice is to solicit proposals by metropolitan areas to enter into UPAs with the Department in order to demonstrate strategies with a combined track record of effectiveness in reducing traffic congestion. To support congestion-reducing strategies adopted by the Department's urban partners (``Urban Partners''), the Department expects to utilize discretionary funding available under the Department's Intelligent Transportation System Operational Testing to Mitigate Congestion Program (the ``ITS-OTMC Program''), its Value Pricing Pilot Program (the ``VPP Program''), and other discretionary grant, lending and credit support programs administered by the Department. In addition, to the maximum extent possible, the Department will support its Urban Partners with regulatory flexibility and dedicated expertise and personnel. This Notice is the first of three solicitations to be issued by the Department in connection with the Congestion Initiative. See below SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Coordination with Other Congestion Initiative Solicitations.'' The Department reserves the right to solicit, and is actively soliciting, by means other than this Notice, certain metropolitan areas that the Department has determined, on a preliminary basis, to be candidates for UPAs. Neither the procedures nor the criteria set forth in this Notice shall be binding on the Department.