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

  • IBTTA: road user charge is the future
    March 16, 2022
    The US government’s cash injection for the nation’s bridges represents a step forward – but IBTTA’s Pat Jones suggests that states need to consider the benefits of road usage charging
  • IRF Geneva leads UN road safety meeting
    October 5, 2022
    The International Road Federation (IRF) in Geneva convened key industry leaders to discuss “Action for Road Safety: Private Sector Leadership” on the occasion of the UN High Level Meeting on Global Road Safety hosted in New York
  • US lagging behind in ITS - with link to report
    February 1, 2012
    The United States is lagging behind other world leaders in the use of new technologies to address traffic congestion, CO2 emissions, traffic crashes, and other major challenges according to a report issued yesterday by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).
  • Website tracks health effects of walking and cycling
    August 8, 2017
    Andrew Bardin Williams looks at a new online biking and walking benchmark report that allows transportation practitioners to compare communities and track progress. Transportation and public health are inextricably linked. The more people are encouraged to opt out of single occupancy vehicles, the healthier the overall community becomes. Sure, fewer pollutants are released into the air and commuters spend less time in traffic, but it’s the push to get people to ditch fully motorised transportation options a