. . . . . . . "16960"^^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . "1118849209"^^ . . . "America's Marine Highway"@en . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "39295741"^^ . . . . . . . . . "America's Marine Highway is a United States Department of Transportation (DOT) initiative, aimed to use the United States' 29,000 mi (47,000 km) of navigable waterways to alleviate traffic and wear to the nation's highways caused by tractor trailer traffic. In 2007 Congress included provisions to Public Law 110-140, to 'Offer a waterborne alternative to available land-side transportation services using documented Vessels' and 'Provide transportation services for passengers or freight (or both) that may reduce congestion on land-side infrastructure using documented vessels.'As the United States' population grows, its need to transport freight within its borders also grows. This increases the need for fossil fuels and damages the nation's highways. It is estimated that in 2008, 3.7 billion hours were lost and 2.3 billion US gallons (8.7\u00D7109 L) of fuel were spent in traffic jams by Americans. Alongside grassroots efforts to reduce this congestion and greenhouse gas, such as the idea of 'buying local,' the federal government is looking to its navigable waterways to help alleviate the problem. Research has shown that transporting by barge or ship is the most fuel-efficient method of transporting goods (per Ton-Mile), being over eight times more efficient than tractor-trailers and double what is achievable by rail. It also does not face the transportation limits truckers face in 'hours driving.' A driver is only allowed to be on the road 11 hours out of 21; this drops their average speed effectively in half when transiting more than 600 mi (970 km). A teamster's daily range is also dependent on highway traffic congestion and bottlenecks (such as weigh-stations and toll booths) whereby their daily range could be even less."@en . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "America's Marine Highway is a United States Department of Transportation (DOT) initiative, aimed to use the United States' 29,000 mi (47,000 km) of navigable waterways to alleviate traffic and wear to the nation's highways caused by tractor trailer traffic. In 2007 Congress included provisions to Public Law 110-140, to 'Offer a waterborne alternative to available land-side transportation services using documented Vessels' and 'Provide transportation services for passengers or freight (or both) that may reduce congestion on land-side infrastructure using documented vessels.'As the United States' population grows, its need to transport freight within its borders also grows. This increases the need for fossil fuels and damages the nation's highways. It is estimated that in 2008, 3.7 billion h"@en . . . . . . . . .