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

  • Drivewyze wins ITS America innovation award
    May 6, 2024
    Firm's Smart Roadways tech issues in-cab safety alerts to commercial truck drivers
  • The need to accelerate systems standardisation
    January 31, 2012
    While the US has achieved an appreciable level of success when it comes to implementation of standards-based systems at the urban and intersection control levels, the overall standards implementation effort is not progressing at anywhere near a level commensurate with the size of the country and its population, says Christy Peebles, business unit manager with Siemens Industry, Inc.'s Mobility Division. She attributes the situation to a number of factors: "There's a big element of 'Not Invented Here' syndro
  • Machine vision - cameras for intelligent traffic management
    January 25, 2012
    For some, machine vision is the coming technology. For others, it’s already here. Although it remains a relative newcomer to the ITS sector, its effects look set to be profound and far-reaching. Encapsulating in just a few short words the distinguishing features of complex technologies and their operating concepts can sometimes be difficult. Often, it is the most subtle of nuances which are both the most important and yet also the most easily lost. Happily, in the case of machine vision this isn’t the case:
  • ITS UK Awards 2024: and the winners are...
    November 11, 2024

    ITS UK revealed the winners of its prestigious annual Awards at its 18th President’s Dinner last week.

    Organisation president and former UK transport minister Steve Norris presented the trophies across 16 categories.

    "Many congratulations to all the winners of the ITS UK Annual Awards," said Max Sugarman, chief executive of ITS UK.