In a Traffic Jam? Snap a Picture

Memorial Day, road construction, and traffic jams. It's a given. But now you can do something while that guy is jack-hammering the road up in front of you. Take a picture, and upload it on a new interactive U.S. map of the nation's troubled roadways. The National Association of Manufacturers has formed a group of congressional leaders, transportation officials and manufacturers called the Alliance for Improving America's Infrastructure and a website called Get America Moving to collect pictures and videos this weekend and even beyond as they build a case for more highway spending and projects. "Over the Memorial Day weekend, GetAmericaMoving.com gives the traveling public the chance to share what's slowing them down," said NAM President John Engler. In addition to uploading pictures and videos to the website, Engler is encouraging folks stuck in traffic to pull out our PDAs and send stuff to mobile@getamericamoving.com.

Alliance Spokesman Brian Jones E-mails us: "It's viewed as a multi-step process. First is raising awareness of the problem which is the immediate goal of the website. Provide people with the opportunity to share infrastructure problems in their communities in a central place (or portal). The alliance will then share the video, pics and stories with members, with the hope being that when infrastructure leg is before Congress they'll get the message that it's something that needs to be addressed and funded. Site also provides a place for solutions to be submitted, further engaging concerned citizens in the process. Part of the thing is with everyone who submits a problem or solution, their email and contact is captured for future mobilization.

The end goal though is legislation (and funding) which will address the country's growing infrastructure crisis. Macro thinking is you're going to wind up paying for this at some point, better to address it upfront."