Skip to main content

President’s transportation budget ‘takes the next step’, says ITS America

Announcing President Obama’s US$98.1 billion Fiscal Year 2017 Budget for the US Department of Transportation (DOT), Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said, “Meeting future challenges will require a long-term vision for the transportation sector that includes more and cleaner options, and expands those options to communities across the country. This budget brings us closer to that vision.” The Budget addresses the DOT’s top priority, safety, with investments in the safe integration of emerging techno
February 10, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Announcing President Obama’s US$98.1 billion Fiscal Year 2017 Budget for the 324 US Department of Transportation (DOT), Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said, “Meeting future challenges will require a long-term vision for the transportation sector that includes more and cleaner options, and expands those options to communities across the country. This budget brings us closer to that vision.”

The Budget addresses the DOT’s top priority, safety, with investments in the safe integration of emerging technologies, such as autonomous vehicles and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), which have the potential to transform transportation systems, save lives and reduce carbon emissions.
 
It also supports the authorised funding levels in the recent surface transportation authorisation, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act , but also moves to a regionally-focused approach to transportation funding that reflects the changing shape of the country’s communities and prioritises spending on projects that will have the most benefits.

Commenting on the budget, a spokesman for ITS America said: “Lives saved, more time for friends and family and more efficient movement of a growing economy are not Democratic or Republican priorities. They are American priorities. Congress accelerated the deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems with the FAST Act. 77 cities across our nation are stepping up to US DOT’s Smart City Challenge to invest in smart infrastructure and modern, high-tech transportation services.”
 
“The President's budget takes the next step by investing not only in needed traditional infrastructure improvements but also the next frontier of automated and connected vehicle technologies and other transportation innovations that will transform our modern way of life.  This is a budget that Congress and future administrations should build on to make connected and automated vehicles, smart infrastructure and transportation innovation a cornerstone of our nation’s economic strength and global competitiveness.”

Related Content

  • June 5, 2015
    New technology could prevent drunk driving, say US officials
    The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has joined with members of Congress, safety advocates and industry representatives at the US Department of Transportation’s headquarters to highlight advances in the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS) program, a research partnership between NHTSA and an industry consortium to develop technology to prevent alcohol-impaired drivers from operating their vehicles while under the influence. The event f
  • February 11, 2015
    Mixed views on reintroduction of US Wi-Fi Innovation Act
    US Senators Marco Rubio and Cory Booker have reintroduced S. 424, the Wi-Fi Innovation Act, legislation to expand unlicensed spectrum use by requiring the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to test the feasibility of opening the upper 5 GHz band to unlicensed use. At a time when demand for spectrum is drastically increasing, the legislation aims to provide more of this valuable resource to the public to bolster innovation, spur economic development, and increase connectivity. According to Rubio,
  • January 12, 2017
    USDOT announces new Federal committee on automation
    The US Department of Transportation is establishing a new advisory committee focused on automation across a number of modes. The committee, which includes leading professionals and experts, will immediately begin work on some of the most pressing and relevant matters facing transportation today, including the development and deployment of automated vehicles, and determining the needs of the Department as it continues with its relevant research, policy, and regulations. “During my time at the Department,
  • August 19, 2024
    USDoT releases V2X roll-out roadmap
    Hope is that tech will reduce "crisis of US roadway deaths" which sees 40,000 fatalities a year