At the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference this week, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced a new Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Technology (NETT) Council, dedicated to advancing transportation technology.
To achieve this, the department expects them to identify and resolve regulatory gaps that could impede growth. In essence, acting as investigators of regulations others have put on the books or missed entirely. The USDOT has within it 11 other administrations, and each possesses its own jurisdiction over a variety of regulations. New technologies, however, do not always fit into the department’s regulatory structure, potentially slowing down the pace of transportation innovation.
“New technologies increasingly straddle more than one mode of transportation, so I’ve signed an order creating a new internal Department council to better coordinate the review of innovation that have multi-modal applications,” Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said.
As things stand, navigating the regulatory structure could slow innovation, especially as inventors and investors must go to USDOT’s network of administrations to gain the safety authorizations, permits, and funding necessary to do their work. Now, they will be able to go directly to NETT if there is an issue or concern and discuss their plans and proposals.
The council will begin by addressing tunneling technologies.