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WASHINGTON, DC - Legislation introduced today by U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) will spur investment in new technologies to improve the efficiency, operation, safety and security of the nation's freight network, said Scott Belcher, President and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, during a media conference call with the Coalition for America's Gateways and Trade Corridors and other freight transportation policy leaders.

The FREIGHT Act of 2010 would establish a comprehensive national freight policy to ensure the nation's transportation system supports the United States' global economic competitiveness. Goals of the legislation include reducing congestion and delays of goods and commodities, increasing travel time reliability on major freight corridors, and making freight transportation more efficient and better for the environment. Among other solutions, the FREIGHT Act would encourage investment in intelligent transportation systems (ITS) to reduce congestion and improve safety.

"With the demand for freight transportation expected to double by 2035, it is vital we address congestion and mobility around metropolitan areas and along America's freight corridors," said Belcher. "The FREIGHT Act places a strong emphasis on modernizing our transportation system by using Intelligent Transportation Systems to reduce congestion and delays across our freight network, from ports and intermodal facilities to the roads connecting our cities and communities."

According to Belcher, ITS technologies are currently being deployed by pioneering states across the country to help move freight more safely and efficiently, including weigh-in-motion truck inspections, real-time traffic, road weather and parking information, synchronized and adaptive traffic signals, open road tolling technologies, dynamic routing systems, infrastructure monitoring and detection technologies, and high-tech traffic, freight and incident management systems.

Belcher also noted that countries like Japan, China and South Korea are already investing heavily in ITS technologies to modernize their transportation systems and improve their economic competitiveness, stressing that "the U.S. must make a similar commitment if we are to improve the efficiency, safety, and sustainability of our freight network while helping American businesses grow and create jobs."

The Focusing Resources, Economic Investment and Guidance to Help Transportation (FREIGHT) Act of 2010 is available here, and additional information is online here.

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The Intelligent Transportation Society of America ( ITS America ) represents several hundred member organizations including public agencies, private industry leaders, and academic institutions involved in the research, development, and deployment of technologies that improve safety, increase mobility, strengthen the economy, and sustain the environment.