On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced it had launched a new advisory committee that will advise the Secretary of Transportation on transportation innovation.
The 27 member Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee (TTAC) will provide Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg and the DOT with information on plans and approaches for innovation in the transportation industry from a wide array of sectors, geographies and areas of expertise. Officials said the members include experts from think tanks, academic institutions, labor, industry and the public sector in topics ranging from automation to cybersecurity, safety and entrepreneurship.
“We are living in a time filled with unprecedented opportunity and unprecedented challenges in transportation,” Buttigieg said. “The deep expertise and diverse perspectives of this impressive group will provide advice to ensure the future of transportation is safe, efficient, sustainable, equitable, and transformative.”
TTAC members will serve 2-year terms and may be reappointed. Officials said they worked hard to select individuals with in-depth knowledge of their respective industries or sectors, while being mindful of diversity and comprehensive points of view.
The first advisory committee meeting will be held on Jan. 18 and will consider issues related to pathways to deploy emerging technologies, approaches to promoting greater cross-modal integration of emerging technologies, policies to encourage innovation, approaches to sharing data securely and ways the DOT can identify and elevate cybersecurity solutions across transportation systems and infrastructures.
Members include: John Bozzella, president and CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation; Matthew Colvin, chief of staff with the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO; Kim Lucas, director of Mobility and Infrastructure with the City of Pittsburgh; and Bryan Reimer, research scientist with the Center for Transportation and Logistics/AgeLab at MIT.