In the May 22 letter, NGA Chairman Gov. John Engler of Michigan and Vice-Chairman Gov. Paul E. Patton of Kentucky also note that quick resolution is needed "because most state FY 2003 budgets begin on July 1." Delay would cause the domino effect of "disruption and drastic cuts in the current construction season." A copy of the NGA leaders' letter is enclosed for members of the AASHTO Board of Directors.

"With states continuing to experience unprecedented shortfalls in revenues, this is not the time for any reduction in highway funding," the NGA leaders said in the letter, addressed to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Byrd (D-WV) and Ranking Senate Appropriations Committee Member Ted Stevens (R-AK). "The impact of the proposed cutback would be felt immediately in many communities across the nation absent any swift action to restore current year funding."

Members of both chambers have sought to restore at least a portion of the $8.6 billion reduction slated for highway programs under President Bush's FY 2003 budget. The cuts result from a decline in revenues to the Highway Trust Fund, which triggered a reduction under the revenue-aligned budget authority (RABA) provisions of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). Under RABA, if funds came into the Highway Trust Fund in excess of estimated sums in TEA-21, they would be apportioned out to the states for highway use; however, RABA also held the prospect of "going negative" if sums coming in proved lower than earlier projections. Revenue for FY 2001 and estimates for FY 2003 are lower than estimated in the FY 2002 budget.

As Oklahoma officials on Thursday began to shift efforts from recovery of victims' remains to restoration of the bridge, which carries 20,000 vehicles a day, investigation continued into the possible causes, the Associated Press reported.

Officials of the National Transportation Safety Board were waiting to interview the captain of the tugboat that was moving the barge, William Joe Dedmon, who was reported to have told authorities shortly after the incident that he blacked out. AP reported that Dedmon tested negative for use of drugs or alcohol. The barge had traveled outside the shipping channel of the river when the incident occurred, according to authorities.

The Oklahoman reported on Friday that NTSB had determined Dedmon got less than 10 hours' sleep during the 41-1/2 hours preceding the accident. The newspaper also quoted Coast Guard Lt. Natalie Magnino as saying federal regulations do not require a specific amount of sleep for a tugboat pilot, though they do specify that pilots must be on watch no more than 12 hours in a 24- hour period, except in an emergency.

Dedmon was said to be "devastated" by the incident.

AP reported that the downed bridge had been reinforced within the shipping channel against possible boat contact with piers, in keeping with standards. However, an NTSB representative, George Black, told AP that the risk of such incidents may rise as the traffic in, and tonnage of, river barges is increasing over time.

AASHTO members urged the public to seek alternate routes to Interstate 40 for trips passing through eastern Oklahoma, to help travelers nationwide avoid lengthy detours that have had to be established near the disaster site.

The case involved a dispute between the federal Maritime Commission, which enforces the federal Shipping Act, and the state-owned Port of Charleston, South Carolina. The Maritime Commission had attempted to force the port to grant a berth to a cruise-line ship, which filed the original complaint with the federal commission.

According to the Times, the case marks the first time the high court has applied the 11th Amendment to the Constitution, which limits "the judicial power of the United States," to a place outside a courtroom, by immunizing states from the actions of executive-branch agencies.

The majority - led by Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia and Anthony M. Kennedy - held that federal agency proceedings, often presided over by administrative law judges, share "strong similarities" with federal court proceedings.

The Times noted that the impact of the ruling may not, at least immediately, be sweeping, in that it only applies to administrative actions initiated against states on the basis of complaints brought by private parties.

Dissenting Justices Stephen Breyer, John Paul Stevens, David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the removal of private parties from administrative actions against states would require "forced growth of unnecessary federal bureaucracy" to compensate. Breyer, who wrote the dissenting opinion, said the ruling "lacks any firm anchor in the Constitution's text."

Loy, whose appointment does not require Senate confirmation, will take on some of the duties now handled by Stephen J. McHale, top aide to TSA chief John W. Magaw, according to DOT spokesman Chet Lunner. Loy and former Treasury official McHale both will have the title of deputy undersecretary and will have equal standing in the agency, Lunner said, with McHale responsible for policy, training and enforcement and Loy responsible for day-to-day operations.

"If you're putting together a team and a star player happens to move into the neighborhood, you want to act expeditiously," Lunner said. "That's what Secretary Mineta did."

Loy, a Vietnam veteran with more than 30 years' experience in the Coast Guard, has impressed Mineta with his management of an agency that has an aging fleet and low funding, Lunner said. Under Loy's leadership, the Coast Guard rapidly mobilized to close major U.S. ports and evacuate more than a million people from Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, the day terrorists crashed commercial aircraft into the two towers of New York's World Trade Center.

Even before Sept. 11, Loy had called for improvements to maritime security, and since then he has redirected the Coast Guard to increase its focus on security. In testimony before a House subcommittee in December, Loy called for better inter-agency and international security coordination, saying much of the needed information "is, to a great extent, already available."

Transportation officials and members of Congress said the appointment will help make the TSA a security agency for all modes, expanding its initial focus on aviation security.

"Admiral Loy is the consummate professional - a superb choice for this key post," said AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley, who worked with Loy at U.S. DOT from 1993-1999, when Horsley was Associate Deputy Secretary and Director of the Office of Intermodalism. "Jim Loy has demonstrated his leadership over many years."

Loy will give the TSA "a wealth of knowledge and experience in maritime security" to improve security in all transportation sectors, stated Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), a senior member of the Senate committee overseeing the U.S. Coast Guard.

In addition to increasing gasoline and diesel-fuel taxes by 2 cents a gallon beginning in July, another one-cent increase is slated to take effect in July, 2003 as a result of legislation passed in 1999. Registration fees also will increase $5 for cars and pickup trucks, while registration fees for other vehicles will increase from $2 to $10 based on weight and functional classification.

"I'm pleased that the legislature demonstrated its commitment to the Comprehensive Transportation Program by providing continued funding," said E. Dean Carlson, Secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation. "I realize it was not easy to pass a separate transportation package during this especially difficult session, and KDOT appreciates the support shown by those who voted for that package.

"Based on the legislation's restoration of the sales tax demand transfer beginning in FY 2004, we are ready and able to continue with the program and will not be making any project cuts. This is welcome news for the many communities of Kansas that are counting on the transportation improvement projects promised in the Comprehensive Transportation Program," Carlson said.

The package -- passed separately from an omnibus tax measure adopted by the legislature -- makes up for some highway program money Kansas' governor and legislature used to maintain order in the state budget.

"My administration is working hard to relieve the transportation bottleneck," Davis said, noting there will be $1.4 million in projects -- more than 125 -- under construction by the end of this year in Los Angeles and Ventura counties alone. Across the state, the number rises to $7 billion - which represents a 50 percent increase over three years. By year's end, one in every five miles of California highways will be under construction, Davis said. "We're making our roads wider, faster, and safer. We're keeping our freeways free. And we're getting California motorists moving again," he said.

In recognition of the significance of transportation to state residents, Davis has achieved a budget with no transportation project cuts this year even as the state has dealt with a deficit of more than $20 billion in one of its toughest budget years in history.

"It's not an engineering question - it's a political question," said Mark Hallenbeck, director of the Transportation Research Center at the University of Washington. The price tag is based on estimated costs of signs and publicity campaigns educating citizens about the proposed changes.

Opening the lanes between or after rush-hours may be a way to get people to vote for a proposed gas-tax increase, Hallenbeck said. "What do we really get if we let people in the HOV lane, operationally? Nada."

Washington's Department of Transportation is considering four options: opening car-pool lanes at night; opening them on weekends; opening them at midday during the week; or opening them during peak hours but in the opposite direction of the commuting traffic. The fourth option is the least likely, officials say. Charlie Howard, director of the DOT's planning and policy office, said the agency is working to deliver a recommendation to the Transportation Commission by its June 19 meeting.

State studies show that demand for HOV lanes during non-peak hours is low. Between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. the lanes carry fewer than 500 vehicles an hour, a number that drops to zero on some roads between midnight and 4 a.m., Howard said.

During peak times, carpool lanes carry as many as 1,200 vehicles an hour. And within Seattle, carpool lanes serve twice as many people as general-purpose lanes during peak commutes, according to a study by the Washington State Transportation Center.

The Census Bureau this week only made results public from eight states, saying other states' will be on the street next week after the 50 states have a chance to see the data.

Among the early statistics made public:

In the Maryland suburbs near Washington, D.C., the average one-way commute has grown from 30 minutes in 1990 to nearly 35 minutes, 10 years later. In that area, the percentage of drivers ages 16 and up using carpools went down from 16 percent to 14 percent, while those who acknowledged they drive alone went up from 67 percent to 70 percent.

In Chester County, Pennsylvania, where new home developments are drawing people who work in Philadelphia, commutes have lengthened in duration from 24 minutes on average to 27 minutes. Solo driving is up about 3 percent to 79 percent in Philadelphia's suburbs bordering New Jersey, the study said.

In Nashville, Tennessee, a one-way commute into work got longer by three minutes, to 23 minutes on average. Some 80 percent of the employees in that area drive by themselves, AP reported.

The video, titled "CCC: Making the Effort Works!" focuses on the "CCC" principles of coordination, cooperation, and communication that can help infrastructure builders and the utility staff they work with compare notes earlier and with better results, said King W. Gee, FHWA's Program Manager for Infrastructure.

"Making the commitment (a fourth 'C') to CCC has not been a high enough priority with most agencies and utility companies," Gee said. The video, based on research and recommendations contained in AASHTO's Utilities Guidelines and Best Practices, provides tips on working through the process and aims to "motivate them to work in partnership with each other," Gee said.

Mineta stressed the Bush Administration's efforts to promote mobility and reduce congestion. He termed public transportation "a strategic investment.".

"For hardworking Americans, the payoff is vibrant and thriving communities with safe and convenient access to employment, medical care and the many activities of daily life," Mineta said.

The San Francisco Airport Extension Project is an 8.7-mile, four-station extension to San Francisco International Airport of the BART rapid transit system. The grant will be used to design and build the South San Francisco, San Bruno, and Millbrae stations and parking structures, as well as line, track work and systems construction.

State troopers in Arkansas handed out 851 citations and issued 270 warnings for seat-belt violations during the recent Memorial Day holiday weekend. The state patrol joined other agencies backing the "Click it or Ticket" campaign to increase use of seat belts among Arkansas motorists. Memorial Day was the first major holiday travel weekend since the campaign began.

In Hawaii, more than 2,600 seat-belt citations have been issued statewide since the start of the campaign, and police say they've noticed an increase in the use of seat belts, according to the Honolulu Advertiser. On Oahu, police issued 1,093 seat-belt citations and 34 citations for violations of child safety restraint requirements May 20-24.

Elsewhere in Hawaii, police issued 652 seat-belt and child-restraint citations on the Big Island May 13-25. Kaua'i police issued 121 seat-belt citations and seven child-restraint citations May 20-24. On Maui, police issued 812 seat-belt citations and six child-restraint citations May 14-24.

More car occupants are wearing seat belts, said Maj. Robert Prasser of the Honolulu Police Department.

The measure will ask voters to raise the state's sales tax by one-half cent on the dollar, and the fuel tax by 4 cents a gallon. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the state auditor's office estimates the proposed increases will generate $431 million for state highways, roads, bridges and public transportation. Cities would get an additional $52 million.

Here is the transportation tax question as it will appear on the Aug. 6 ballot:

"Shall Missouri statutes be amended to impose additional sales and use taxes of one-half cent on the dollar and an additional motor fuel tax of four cents per gallon, for highway and transportation purposes until July, 2013, unless extended by a vote of the people, and establish an inspector general within the Department of Transportation?"

The campaign follows Gov. Jeb Bush's signing of a bill in April that prohibits local governments from regulating cell-phone use; now only the state can regulate it. The bill also calls for the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to collect data on accidents caused by driver distraction and report back to lawmakers.

The patrol's year-long campaign will include billboards, public-service announcements, special safety events and other educational items with the slogan ''Drive responsibly . . . call with care.'' In conjunction with the highway patrol, Verizon Wireless is donating more than 10,000 hands-free headsets.

''Teaching wireless safety to the ever-increasing numbers of drivers using wireless phones will greatly help our mission,'' Lt. Pat Santangelo said.