Many new applications for microwave radio will no doubt generate a rapidly expanding market for these facilities. Other electronic and scientific products Electronic and other scientific devices are in increasing demand for the study and control of traffic, particularly in urban areas. On the Lodge Expressway in Detroit, 14 industrial television cameras continuously monitor traffic movement throughout its length. The pictures are transmitted by cable to a central traffic control office. Fast action can be taken from here to relieve congestion or handle accidents. This system has recently been supplemented by a series of vehicle detectors. These detectors are connected to a battery of computers in the traffic control center. They give at any instant data on the number of vehicles, the speed of individual vehicles, the average speed of all vehicles, the percentage of lane occupied, and the types of vehicles. Further developments in this and similar systems will add to the demand for these devices. Photoelectric, infrared, sonic, and radar devices are available and in use for studying traffic characteristics and for improving the movement of motor vehicles. There has been considerable experimental work by highway departments and industry in the development of automatic controls for motor vehicles. It has been demonstrated that full automatic control of motor vehicles is technically feasible but prohibitively expensive. There are, however, substantial fractions of the total automatic control system which can be and are being used to aid drivers. The market for these units should grow, too. New developments in one field often go hand in hand or lead to new or improved products in others. For instance, the development of the nuclear moisture-density gage was accompanied by the production of an electronic scaler to count the backscatter gamma rays and the slow neutrons. Automatic controls for grading and paving equipment have encouraged an effort to develop a light-sensing device to follow a beam that is parallel to grade and alinement. Wider application of nuclear energy for many highway applications will stimulate the market for gages to measure radiation intensities. Spectroscopes will be in greater demand as a means of identifying the composition of paints, asphalt, additives, admixtures, and other materials to check their conformance with specifications. Infrared photography seems destined for wider use to check the soundness of welds, for aerial surveys, and other purposes. These are some of the new developments which will add to the market for electronic and scientific products as the highway program progresses. This trend will continue, probably at an accelerated rate. As these needs are met, they will foster further improvements in carrying out the highway program. EXHIBITS EXHIBIT A [BPR 62-1, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Public Roads, for release Sunday, Jan. 7, 1962] ESTIMATE OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS FOR HIGHWAYS, 1959-62 Nationwide receipts for highways will reach $11.9 billion in 1961, and are expected to exceed $12.2 billion in 1962, Rex M. Whitton, Federal Highway Administrator, announced today. According to the latest estimates compiled by the Bureau of Public Roads, U.S. Department of Commerce, as shown in the accompanying table 1, imposts on highway users, including tolls and parking fees, will account for over $9 billion or nearly three-fourths of all highway receipts in 1962, with Federal funds alone providing $3.4 billion or slightly more than one-fourth of the total. These are receipts after deduction of the costs of collecting highway-user imposts, and of the allocations of some of these imposts (and in some instances of tolls) for nonhighway purposes. Most Federal funds are not expended directly, but are paid to States as Federal aid in reimbursement for work performed. The States also transfer to local governments about one-fourth of all State highway-user imposts as State aid for local roads and streets. Taking into account these intergovernmental transfers, the States in 1962 will administer $8.2 billion of highway funds, or about twothirds of the total. Federal-aid reimbursements to the States are expected to increase about $330 million over 1961, reflecting the strong financial position of the Federal Highway Trust Fund. Total long-term debt outstanding for highway purposes at the end of 1960 was $13.2 billion. It is estimated that there will be debt increases of $686 million in 1961 and $530 million in 1962, with the total outstanding debt reaching $14.4 billion by the end of 1962. State obligations for highways will account for $10.2 billion of this total, those of local rural governments $1.5 billion, and of municipalities $2.7 billion. The total debt will be almost equally divided between obligations for toll facilities and those for toll-free facilities. Capital outlay (expenditures for highway right-of-way, engineering, and construction) is expected to reach $7.3 billion in 1962, as shown in table 2. This is a substantial gain over the $6.7 billion for 1961. Expenditures on municipal roads and streets will account for $2.6 billion, or slightly more than one-third of the total. Expenditures for maintenance, administration, policing, and debt service are all expected to show increases in 1962. Highway construction expenditures (excluding right-of-way and engineering costs) are expected to reach $5.6 billion in 1962, compared with $5.1 billion in 1961 and $4.9 billion in 1960, as shown on table 3. Right-of-way accounts for about 15 percent of the total capital expenditures for all roads and streets, and over one-fifth of the total expenditure on the Interstate System. Preliminary and construction engineering expenditures are nearly 8 percent of total capital expenditures. Construction expenditures on the Interstate System will account for one-third of the total in 1962, and three-fourths of the total will be expended on the various Federal-aid systems. 73 TABLE 1.-Total receipts for highways, all units of government, 1959-621 [Amounts in millions of dollars] +1,387 +777 +379 1 Federal and State data are for calendar years; local data for fiscal years ending in var- Excludes amounts allocated for collection expenses and nonhighway purposes. 4 Proceeds of short-term notes and refunding issues are excluded. Premium and discounts on sale of bonds are included in miscellaneous income. Includes forest highway and other funds administered by the Bureau of Public Roads, as well as funds of other Federal agencies not derived from the highway trust fund. |