Former US DoT boss says job was sometimes like ‘sitting over trapdoor’

The political pressure on transit organisations was starkly highlighted by the distinguished former boss of Michigan Department of Transportation at a UK conference this week. Kirk Steudle, who joined Econolite recently after a career in the public sector, said he often felt as though there was “a trapdoor under your seat” while he was in charge of state transportation. Talking about the development of ITS solutions at regional authority level, he said: “The ability to move forward is largely dependen
November 30, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

The political pressure on transit organisations was starkly highlighted by the distinguished former boss of Michigan Department of Transportation at a UK conference this week.

Kirk Steudle, who joined %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Econolite false http://http//www.itsinternational.com/categories/utc/news/econolite-hires-ex-michigan-dot-boss-kirk-steudle/ false false%> recently after a career in the public sector, said he often felt as though there was “a trapdoor under your seat” while he was in charge of state transportation.

Talking about the development of ITS solutions at regional authority level, he said: “The ability to move forward is largely dependent on the political structure in which you work.”

Having leaders who are receptive to the ideas that ITS brings means that some authorities will allow you to fail and learn from your efforts – but, he added: “Others will just kill you if you fail.”

Feeling as though you were sitting over a trapdoor was an uncomfortable experience, he says: “Some days it feels like ‘one mistake and you’re gone’. Some days [the trapdoor] felt like it was held together with toothpicks.”

But at other times, if politicians understood the challenges of introducing ITS, the ‘trapdoor’ felt as though it was supported by “steel rods”.

Speaking at the ITS (UK) 2018 summit in Bristol, Steudle praised current Michigan governor Rick Snyder’s support for ITS projects, saying: “Under Governor Snyder, it felt like it was welded shut.”

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • ITS UK: freight experts call for technology to support deliveries
    March 5, 2018
    Members of ITS (UK)’s Freight Interest Group have raised concerns that relying on autonomous vehicles and platooning to provide future solutions may be diverting attention away from current technology which could help in the short-to-medium-term, at the Industry 4.0 Summit in Manchester. The group suggested that logistics efficiency could be improved by better communication with light goods vehicle drivers. Additionally, signal timing technology could decrease the number of stops that Heavy Goods Vehicles
    Read More
  • Australia faces tough choices over toll tags
    September 12, 2014
    With more than seven million tolling tags nearing the end of their life, delegates to ITS Australia’s 2014 National Electronic Tolling Conference had more than a passing interest debating possible ways forward. Rex Wright, chair of the Australian Toll Road Users’ Group, said the industry was potentially facing an AUD$100million bill over the next five years but the toll operators are committed to a unified national approach, consistent with the current interoperability.
    Read More
  • Uber’s self-driving cars resume trials in Pittsburgh in manual mode
    July 27, 2018
    Uber’s self-driving cars are being manually driven on public roads in Pittsburgh after a fatal crash which prompted the company to pull out of its testing programme in North America. The company is trialling new safeguards which it says will improve vehicle fleet safety and performance. According to a report by Medium, Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber Advanced Technologies, says: “While we are eager to resume testing of our self-driving system, we see manual driving as an important first step in piloting thes
    Read More
  • London comes first for public transport but suffers from congested roads, says Here Technologies
    November 30, 2018
    London has the best public transport system in the world - but the UK capital’s roads are among the most congested, says a new report. Here Technologies’ Urban Mobility Index ranked transit efficiency in 38 cities based on their public transport frequency, density and coverage as well as how public transport performs against car speed. Just behind London are Zurich, Toronto, Washington, DC and Stockholm. However, London was ranked 34th for congestion. The top five least-congested cities are: H
    Read More

Highlighted Content