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.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • USDoT rolls out $25bn coronavirus response
    April 14, 2020
    The US Department of Transportation (USDoT) is rolling out $25 billion in funding for public transit services, which have been hit hard by Covid-19.
  • Government publishes programme of upgrades to major roads and motorways
    June 30, 2017
    The UK government has unveiled a US$8 billion (£6.1 billion) programme of road improvements as part of its US$30 billion (£23 billion) upgrade to the road network in England.
  • US transportation policy needs to restart to sort shortcomings
    August 2, 2012
    Joshua Schank has no illusions when it comes to what he and the Bipartisan Policy Center are suggesting in Performance Driven: New Vision for US Transportation Policy. Released in June of this year, this major report (see Sidebar, 'The Shift in Thinking') advocates no less than a root-and-branch overhaul of the way in which the US transportation system is run - how money is allocated and how the beneficiaries of that funding are selected. As its name suggests, Schank and his colleagues are urging senior US
  • Copenhagen to showcase ITS in action at ITSWC 2018
    December 18, 2017
    As delegates head for the 2017 ITS World Congress in Montreal, we talk to Copenhagen mayor Morten Kabell about why his city is the ideal location for next year’s event. It may have been a long time coming but the ITS World Congress will be in Copenhagen in 2018 and there can be few more fitting places to host the event. By any number of metrics - interconnected transport, cycle commuting, safer streets, reduced pollution, sustainable energy and quality of life - the Danish capital has implemented what m