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2002 SESSION

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021884420
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 80 AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE (Proposed by the Senate Committee on Rules on January 29, 2002) (Patron Prior to Substitute--Senator Edwards) Requesting the Secretary of Transportation to study the use of Personal Electric Rapid Transit System Technology (PERTS).

WHEREAS, safety is a primary goal of the Commonwealth's transportation program; and

WHEREAS, many of the Commonwealth's interstate highways are experiencing an erosion of safety as the result of staggering increases in traffic; and

WHEREAS, one acute example of this situation is Interstate Route 81, whose facility design was intended to carry a load of no more than 15 percent truck traffic, but whose current traffic volume indicates close to 50 percent truck traffic load; and

WHEREAS, the widening of Interstate Route 81 alone is estimated to cost in excess of $3 billion and take at least 10 years to complete, with similar improvements to other interstate highways with high traffic volumes costing comparable amounts and requiring no less time; and

WHEREAS, it may be both desirable and feasible in the short- and long-term to alleviate excessive traffic on Interstate Route 81, and other interstate highways in Virginia, by shifting these same vehicular occupants to passenger trains on the railroad network; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the Secretary of Transportation be requested to study the use of Personal Electric Rapid Transit System Technology (PERTS). In conducting the study, the Secretary shall determine the desirability and feasibility of establishing (PERTS) technology, currently housed at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, in an effort to decrease Virginia's highway traffic volumes through shifting occupants to the passenger rail or transit facility.

All costs for this study shall be paid by private industry or from other nonstate sources.

The Department of Transportation and the Department of Rail and Public Transportation shall assist the Secretary in the conduct of the study. Other agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the Secretary, upon request.

The Secretary of Transportation shall complete his work by November 30, 2002, and shall submit his written findings and recommendations to the Governor and the 2003 Session of the General Assembly as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents.