Location Transport

What can the department of transportation do to provide the safest transportation system in the nation for use

What can the department of transportation do to provide the safest transportation system in the nation for users and workers.

Public Comments

1. Update existing roads with either expanded lanes or keep them maintained to a higher standard. I'm sure you've seen all of the questions about driving at high speed and everyone answers "the autobahn", well there is a reason why they can drive fast on that road.... smooth pavement!! The fact of the matter is this... when a road or highway is slated for redevelopment, it takes so long to go through the bureaucratic red tape, that by the time the road is completed, it is roughly 3-5 years outdated. Take the Big Dig in Boston for example... that project was held up so long that the new road is having trouble keeping up with the volume that it was supposed to have accomodated for in design. Our roads are quite safe, but in a lot of cases, its the people who use them who aren't.... sometimes I really wish that I saw more State Troopers and Sherrifs, but that like many other things is just a band-aid for the problem.
2. Ban people from taking their children to and from school in their personal vehicles...Thats what the tax money I am wasting on buses is for. This move alone will reduce traffic during rush hour by NOT less than 10%. Make the left lane for "through" traffic only within city limits. Place a concrete barrier, dividing the far right lane from all other lanes...one mile before, and one mile after an exit ramp. If you are not in said lane in time. TOUGH! No more ramp cutters at the last minute, shutting down 4 lanes.
3. make people caught on cell phones while driving, have ta sit on the side of the road for an hr an give um a 100$ fine
4. As a Dept. of Transportation Engineer, I don't think you can get good answers to such a broad based question. There are many things that a DOT can do to make the transportation system safer, but they all depend on the existing conditions. The best thing a DOT can do is to start a Statewide Crash Analysis Team. This team would then start to record and analyze crash patterns throughout the State. This is the first step to making improvements at locations where the improvements are truly needed and not just where anyone says it needs to go. If you ask any citizen they will tell you that the roads that they travel own are the worst ones in the area and that improvements should be on those roads before they are installed somewhere else.
5. Take licences and cars away from people who: 1. use phones whilst driving 2. speeding 3. Drive Drunk 4. Allow kids to travel unrestrained 5. Allow anyone to travel unrestrained