| TranStar Press Release | |
Houston TranStar Saves Region's Travelers Time, Money |
May 28th, 2009 |
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| Media Contact
Dinah Massie Office 713.881.3244 Houston TranStar Saved Region’s Travelers Time and Money Collaboration reduces the rate of congestion, travel time HOUSTON (May 28, 2009) - Houston TranStar saved the region’s travelers both time and money in 2008, according to the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI). The 2008 TranStar Annual Report finds that reduced travel time and congestion, through TranStar’s incident management and traveler information services, saved travelers more than 11.8 million vehicle-hours. The reduced travel delay times translates to a reduction of some 22.2 million gallons in fuel consumption, or about 480 tons of hydrocarbons; 3,100 tons of carbon monoxide; and 700 tons of nitrogen oxides. Clearly, an important benefit to the reduced congestion is reduced air pollution. When fuel cost savings are combined with the estimated $238 million in delay savings, travelers netted an estimated $308 million in total cost avoidance. “Each year, we enhance or add services to assist the community with its transportation and emergency management needs,” said John R. Whaley, director of Houston TranStar. “For example, our Web site served as a major information source during Hurricane Ike, with more than 1.8 million unique users and 20.6 million Web accesses that month alone. A couple of years ago we set up mobile Web access and personalized e-mails to tell travelers about highway incidents and travel times.” “Using our services, travelers can choose alternate routes to avoid delays. We provide timely traveler information, help clear incidents more quickly and do what we can to decrease greenhouse gases and improved air quality,” Whaley added. Houston TranStar is a collaboration between four government agencies that coordinate and enhance transportation and emergency management services, responding to incidents and emergency in Harris County and beyond. Sharing their resources to serve area residents their agencies are the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Harris County, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) and the City of Houston. 30 |
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