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The first transportation budget proposed by the Bush Administration is focusing on enhancing mobility and improving safety. At nearly $60 billion, the fiscal year 2002 budget would be a 6% increase over spending in the previous fiscal year.

Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta says: "We face safety and capacity challenges. The funding requested in the 2002 budget will help address those challenges, save lives and relieve congestion." Airport grants will total $3.3 billion, with $700 million to be spent on new or extended airport runways or aprons, increasing capacity.

Mineta says the budget request includes $7 billion for across-the-board critical transportation safety programmes. Funding earmarked for aviation safety would increase 4% to over $4 billion, including $112 million (up 13%) for runway incursion prevention programmes, notably the development and procurement of 25 low-cost ASDE-X airport surface radars - an add-on to Northrop Grumman's Airport Surface Detection Equipment 3 ground mapping radar system.

The budget proposal also provides nearly $3 billion for air traffic control modernisation projects, including $453 million for better weather radars and automation aids that improve safety.

In an expanded allocation, the Federal Aviation Administration would receive about $238 million for its capacity-enhancing Free Flight Phase 1 & 2 projects. Oceanic Automation efforts would be funded at the $88 million level, and the Raytheon Wide Area Augmentation System, the Local Area Augmentation System and other landing aid projects would receive $135 million.

A chief executive for the new US Air Traffic Organisation (ATO) should be named within three weeks, according to Mineta. The "performance-based" ATO will be charged with operating US air traffic services more like a business. The search has been in progress since late last year.