First Regular Session

Sixty-second General Assembly

LLS NO. R99­0910.01 Bob Lackner

STATE OF COLORADO

BY REPRESENTATIVES Clapp, May, Swenson, Mace, Larson, Nuñez, Gotlieb, McElhany, Paschall;

also SENATOR Andrews.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-1044

CONCERNING THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF VOLUNTARY EFFORTS TO ALLEVIATE CONGESTION ON COLORADO HIGHWAYS.

WHEREAS, The state of Colorado contains more than 85,000 miles of roads and 8,300 bridges, and vehicle miles in Colorado last year totaled more than 36 billion, 22 billion of such miles on state roads; and

WHEREAS, Nearly three­fourths of Colorado's portion of the interstate highway system was built before 1970, and since then, the population of this state has increased by 1.8 million people; and

WHEREAS, Insufficient investment in the state's transportation system relative to the state's population growth has resulted in too many congested and unsafe roads, with heavily­traveled portions of such roads forced to handle thousands more daily trips by motorists than was anticipated when such roads were constructed; and

WHEREAS, Although the Colorado Transportation Commission has identified 28 strategic transportation projects across the state that are critical for improving Coloradans' safety and mobility, the projected completion date for all of these projects is literally a generation away; and

WHEREAS, Beneficial growth in Colorado's economy and preservation of our state's unique quality of life will only be possible if goods, services, and people can be moved quickly, efficiently, and economically across our state; and

WHEREAS, Addressing the state's transportation crisis is a major priority of the First Regular Session of the Sixty­second General Assembly, and Governor Owens' administration, working in concert with the General Assembly, has developed a comprehensive package of legislative measures that will, if enacted, accelerate completion of the 28 state­wide strategic transportation projects, provide safer and less congested highways, direct attention to needed improvements in the southeast corridor while freeing up resources for other important projects around the state, and save Colorado taxpayers money and time otherwise lost to traffic congestion; and

WHEREAS, There are numerous actions Colorado public and private employers, families, and citizens can take now on a voluntary basis to relieve or reduce traffic congestion on the state highways that will enhance and supplement the package of transportation measures currently pending before the General Assembly, including the adoption and encouragement of flex­time, home­office, telecommuting, and ride­sharing arrangements, as well as the use of "jitney" taxicab services in heavily congested areas; and

WHEREAS, Voluntary efforts on the part of Colorado public and private employers, families, and citizens to make greater use of these or other alternatives to traditional highway usage could make a meaningful difference in reducing or relieving congestion on state roads at little or no cost to the public; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Sixty­second General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein:

(1)  That the General Assembly encourages Colorado public and private employers, families, and individual citizens to adopt and practice voluntary efforts, whether through flex­time, home­office, telecommuting, ride­sharing, jitney taxicab service, or other arrangements, that will reduce or relieve traffic congestion on state roads.

(2)  That the General Assembly encourages the executive director of each principal department of the executive branch to consider, to the extent not yet undertaken, the adoption of policies that will foster the use of voluntary efforts to reduce traffic congestion on the part of the employees in that department, consistent with existing rules and regulations concerning personnel matters or otherwise.

Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to Governor Bill Owens, the executive director of each principal department of the executive branch of state government, and each member of Colorado's delegation to the United States Congress.