The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently announced it appointed 24 members to the Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity (ACTE) to serve two-year terms.
The DOT received and reviewed more than 240 applications from academia, the private sector, and the transportation industry. The newly appointed members include Roger Millar, Washington State Department of Transportation secretary, and Tunya Smith, North Carolina Department of Transportation Office of Civil Rights director.
The committee’s main objectives are to offer a forum for the coordination and exchange of information on equity concerns in local and regional transportation decisions; strengthen and establish partnerships with overburdened and underserved communities who have been historically underrepresented in the department’s outreach and engagement; inform the transportation secretary on practices to institutionalize equity into programs, policies, regulations, and activities; and provide added strength, objectivity, and confidence to management’s decision-making process.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg re-established the ACTE to provide independent advice and recommendations on civil rights and transportation equity.
The ACTE will operate in accordance with Federal Advisory Committee Act rules and regulations. The first meeting will be held in the autumn.
The committee complements the work of the Department of Transportation Equity Council that oversees the process for institutionalizing equity across policies and programs.