Skip to main content

U.S. Undersecretary of Transportation DOT pushes public/private partnerships

U.S. Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy Polly Trottenberg called for greater public/private partnerships in the transportation industry during her keynote address Monday morning, citing ITS technology as key to cost-efficiently modernizing aging infrastructure in the U.S.
April 22, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
US Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy Polly Trottenberg
U.S. Undersecretary of Transportation for Policy Polly Trottenberg is calling for greater public/private partnerships in the transportation industry during her keynote address Monday morning, she cited ITS technology as key to cost-efficiently modernising aging infrastructure in the U.S.

“The [U.S.] DOT is migrating to a performance management system that will be more data driven and outcome based to deliver greater value to taxpayers,” Trottenberg said in front of a receptive audience at 560 ITS America 2013.

One of the ways private enterprise can help shape public policy is through data, analysis, Trottenberg said in an interview with ITS Daily News the day before her speech, she also mentioned the ability to take the rich data that public agencies collect to create useful applications for the travelling public.

In the interview, Trottenberg described the current state of public/private partnerships and the need to involve private enterprise earlier in the process. In its existing form, state DOTs typically wait until projects are approved and designed before engaging with the private sector—and that’s usually because there are budget issues that only innovation and efficiencies provided by the private enterprise can solve.

Instead, Trottenberg said that private companies need to be involved in the planning and design phase—and that’s where ITS providers are needed the most.

Trottenberg also announced two initiatives at the DOT aimed at encouraging better engagement with the industry, including an award program to honor innovative ITS professionals and a Datapolooza event where the Federal Government and ITS companies can learn how to take advantage of the data collected by the DOT.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Data handling important for autonomous vehicles
    December 8, 2016
    Data handling is becoming an ever-greater part of transportation and never more so than with autonomous vehicles, as Andrew Bardin Williams hears from some big names.
  • Australian ITS Summit and NeTC Forum – the top Down Under 2015 ITS event
    March 19, 2015
    Australia’s two leading annual intelligent transport systems conferences, the Australian ITS Summit and the National Electronic Tolling Forum (NeTC), will be held at the Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne from 12 to 14 May with national and international guest speakers and more than 400 delegates expected to attend. Hosted by Intelligent Transport Systems Australia (ITS Australia), the events bring together ITS industry leaders, government, transport businesses and users, and academics to explore ways to ma
  • 'Choose your own adventure': ITS World Congress All-Access
    September 15, 2020
    The Los Angeles ITS World Congress has moved online: Shailen Bhatt of ITS America explains to Adam Hill why everyone should get involved in this global conversation – and how networking will still be a key element because 'human beings are gregarious, we want to be together'
  • ITS Australia starts countdown to ITSWC2016 in Melbourne
    June 14, 2016
    In just five month’s time, the 23rd ITS World Congress will open in Melbourne, Australia, hosted by ITS Australia on behalf of ITS Asia Pacific, Ertico and ITS America. Susan Harris, CEO of ITS Australia is here in San Jose to promote what promises to be not just an unmissable event, but an important business opportunity for American firms.