Arlen Specter: “This amendment is necessary in order to clarify congressional intent on the highway congestion relief program created…”

“This amendment is necessary in order to clarify congressional intent on the highway congestion relief program created under the 1998 TEA-21 highway authorization bill. Under the ITS, Traffic.com, a Wayne, PA, company employing some 150 workers, competed for and won an initial $8 million contract to create a traffic management system to monitor congestion in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The bidders competing for this initial contract expected and were led to believe that the winner on the first phase of the contract would automatically receive the follow-on contract. The intent of the TEA-21 ITS provision was to eventually expand this program beyond Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and award the next phase of the contract to the same team that won the first phase. The fiscal year 2001 Transportation Appropriations Act contained a $50 million earmark to further fund an intelligent transportation system, ITS, section 378, Public Law 106-346. This intelligence transportation system project was originally conceived under TEA-21 to serve as a national, interoperable program that would allow local residents and trucking companies to receive up-to-date information on traffic patterns and congestion.”