ITS America Releases Reauthorisation Platform
Referencing the ongoing struggle of tens of thousands of roadway fatalities each year, including estimates indicating a sharp increase in cyclist and pedestrian fatalities in 2018, ITS (UK)’s friends at ITS America have called for the upcoming FAST Act reauthorisation to improve the safety and efficiency of the U.S. transportation system by integrating technology into infrastructure and mobility.
In addition to releasing its reauthorisation platform, Moving People, Data and Freight: Safer. Greener. Smarter, ITS America President & CEO Shailen Bhatt testified today at the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety’s hearing “Examining Technological Innovations in Transportation.”
The platform bridges new infrastructure technologies and new modes of mobility at the state and local levels with federal policymaking. Moving People, Data, and Freight first and foremost prioritises policies that improve the safety of the nation’s transportation system.
“We have an epidemic of fatalities on our roadways, and I believe technology is the best tool in our toolbox to reduce this epidemic,” Bhatt said.
Bhatt noted the association’s focus is policy that expands investment in technology; accelerates connected and automated vehicle technologies; and encourages new modes and models of transportation, including micro-mobility options.
On the safety front, he referenced life-saving V2X (Vehicle to Everything) technologies; the importance of preserving the 5.9GHz spectrum for transportation safety critical communications; and the need for funding to safeguard critical transportation systems that are more reliant than ever on connectivity to communicate and exchange data from cybersecurity threats.
The association also calls for establishing a Mobility on Demand (MOD) program that advances an integrated network of reliable transportation modes and options available to all.
“From Lincoln (NE) to Los Angeles, the public and private sectors along with researchers are working together, using technologies to develop solutions that allow people to seamlessly move from place to place.
“The next reauthorisation holds the key to unlocking the 21st century of transportation in this country,” Bhatt said. “From mobility and infrastructure improvements to eliminating the epidemic of roadway fatalities that claims 100 people every day.”
Bhatt’s full testimony is available here.
