POLICYSMART

New and improved technologies are cropping up all over the world, including in the transportation industry. The speed of innovation has been felt by city engineers, planners, and policymakers as they work hard to meet the demands of their residents.   How can tech's need to move fast work with the government's responsibility to protect without breaking things? Tune in to our conversation about innovative procurement processes with Kirk Talbott, CIO of Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), and Jeremy Devray-Benichou, VP of Customer Success at UrbanLeap, a platform helps cities test and evaluate innovative solutions.   On another note, happy Thanksgiving and stay safe!   LINKS: Kirk Talbott, CIO of MARTA Jeremy Devray-Benichou, VP of Customer Success at UrbanLeap MARTA UrbanLeap

As more and more people move back into dense urban areas, demand for autonomous vehicles is inevitable. Whether you've thought about it or not, AV does affect logistics and consumer goods delivery. City planners must think quickly about how to manage this emergent technology to ensure utopian convenience doesn’t create a dystopian nightmare.  On this episode, Allan Rutter, head of the Freight Mobility and Infrastructure Investment Analysis Division at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, stops by to share his insights on the future of consumer goods delivery. LINKS: Allan Rutter Texas A&M Transportation Institute NACTO's Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism: Second Edition National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)

Policy actions from Capitol Hill touch local jurisdictions throughout the country, especially when it comes too funding. What kind of impact does DC have on your ability to innovate and your bottomline? On this final INTERSECT19 edition of POLICYSMART, John Roberti, VP of Government Relations and Strategy at Cubic Corporation, speaks with us about his job as a lobbyist and what's happening with transportation and mobility issues in Congress. LINKS: John Roberti Cubic Corporation INTERSECT19

Once upon a time, transportation was about building roads and filling potholes. Like everything else in this world, however, it's now influenced by technology. On this fourth INTERSECT19 edition of POLICYSMART, we speak with Greg Winfree, Director of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) about connected vehicles in Texas. Texas doesn't do anything small...and that includes transportation and mobility. Tune in to hear what all the state's been up to! LINKS: Greg Winfree Texas A&M Transportation Institute INTERSECT19 conference

We're wrapping up Day 3 of INTERSECT19 with Crissy Ditmore, Director of Strategy for Cubic Transportation Systems, and some policy talk on mobility as a service (MaaS)! What exactly is MaaS? What does it involve and who does it serve? It's not a product...and it involves many different parties. Still don't know? Don't worry—tune into this episode and Crissy will explain everything from traffic management systems to on-demand services. This is the third special episode covering INTERSECT19! We're so excited to have you join us this week and we hope you have a lot of helpful takeaways! LINKS: Crissy Ditmore Cubic Transportation Systems INTERSECT19 conference

The transportation industry does a great job of talking to each other. However, it doesn't do such a great job of talking to people outside of the industry. Why does it need to be good at both? Krishna Desai, the Global Marketing Manager for Cubic Transportation Systems, shares with POLICYSMART why it's so critical for the transportation and ITS industries to become better at speaking to others. Some of the reasons include the need to recruit great Millennial talent, to share with private companies what our real transportation needs are, and to explain clearly why important projects need funding. We bring you another special episode on this second day of INTERSECT19! Tune in to find out more reasons why ITS needs a message makeover and how the industry can go about doing it. LINKS: Krishna Desai Cubic Transportation Systems INTERSECT19 conference

Randy Iwasaki, Executive Director of Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA), is the newest GRIDSMART Hall of Fame-er and we’re very excited to have him with us on our first special INTERSECT19 edition of POLICYSMART!   Everyone knows that Bay Area traffic is heavy—it’s a popular place to live, after all. The good thing is that the Bay Area also happens to be one of America’s most innovative places, if not THE most innovative. That being said, what is CCTA doing to innovate in transportation?   CCTA was recently awarded a $7.5 million grant from USDOT. They’re using it to work on three cool demos as a part of a four-year Automated Driving System (ADS) pilot program. Randy talks about these demos with us. Tune in to find out more about these AV, CAV, SAV (and more!) initiatives.   LINKS: Randy Iwasaki Contra Costa Transportation Authority News release: Contra Costa Transportation Authority Wins $7.5 Million USDOT Grant for Automated Driving Systems Pilot Program INTERSECT19 conference

What happens when the curb becomes too appealing? What can we do about it? The curb is loved by more than just cars and trucks nowadays. Bikes, scooters, rideshare, and even food trucks want a piece of it—and they're willing to fight each other for it. Jim Barbaresso, HNTB's Senior VP and National Practice Leader for Intelligent Transportation Systems, shares with us this week what's happening to the curb now, what will happen to the curb in the future, and how we can shape curb policy to ensure the most efficient and fair use of it. LINKS: Jim Barbaresso Jim's email: jbarbaresso@hntb.com Jim Barbaresso's column on Axios HNTB

Pedestrian fatalities have been rising every year for the last 10 years. Why? Do smartphones have anything to do with it? What about legalized marijuana? Maybe it's the type of car you're driving. In the spirit of Pedestrian Safety Month, we speak with Wes Guckert, Founder and CEO of The Traffic Group, about what is causing all these pedestrian fatalities, who is getting hit, and what cities have been doing and can start doing to reduce the number of deaths. LINKS: Wes Guckert, Founder and CEO of The Traffic Group "Pedestrian Fatalities: What is Going On?" by Wes Guckert, Freak Speak Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) Report: Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State

It's back-to-school week for students across the country! Most of us would consider this bad news, but the Boston Public School District gives us something to smile and marvel about. The school district went from spending $2,000 a year per student—just on school buses—to trimming a total of $5 million. All done by an algorithm. That's not all: buses are driving 1 million fewer miles a year and cutting 20,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per day. Want to hear about the results and how Boston achieved them? Tune in to this episode of POLICYSMART as we speak with Emma Coleman, Route Fifty's Assistant Editor! LINKS: Emma Coleman How One City Saved $5 Million by Routing School Buses with an Algorithm

Autonomous vehicles have to navigate more than just the roads. They have to make their way through Congress, too. There's been some twists and turns...and maybe a dead end on the horizon. We recently spoke with Tanya Snyder, a transportation reporter for Politico, about the ups and downs of AV policy on Capitol Hill. What is Congress doing now? Anything? Who are AV companies turning to now? LINKS: Tanya Snyder "AV industry turns away from Congress" Politico Politico Morning Transportation newsletter

We often talk about how autonomous vehicles can move people who otherwise wouldn't be able to commute as independently. Sasha Lekach, a tech reporter for transportation at Mashable, shares how it happened recently in real life at the National Federation of the Blind's annual conference in Las Vegas.   At the conference, Lyft teamed up with self-driving car pioneer Aptiv to give people with impaired vision more than three hours worth of rides. Hear from Sasha about how intelligent transportation companies like Lyft and Aptiv are liberating people who have to rely on others to move around in their communities.   LINKS: Sasha Lekach, Tech Reporter for Transportation, Mashable "Lyft self-driving cars offer tactile maps, diagrams for blind riders" by Sasha Lekach

Is your city interested in testing autonomous vehicles? Has it been asked to test them in the future? Jason JonMichael, the City of Austin's Assistant Director for Smart Mobility, shares with you the considerations to think through. Is your city built to support the test? Can it meet enough of the needs of the AV company to enter into this type of public-private partnership? What about the taxpayer? Tune in to this episode to hear Jason's experience. He left a private sector career to work on these big projects in Austin. LINKS: Jason JonMichael Austin's Smart Mobility Road Map Google's Waymo in Austin Ford AV expanding to Austin

We're launching early this week because we should all celebrate Independence Day tomorrow! Today, we're talking about bikes and why bike safety means safety for all (something we should keep in mind for the Fourth of July, too).   More and more people are using bikes as their preferred mode of transportation. How do we make city streets safe for the growing number of bikes? CityLab reporter Laura Bliss is here to chat with us about results from a study of crash data and street design from 12 cities.   LINKS: STUDY: Why cities with high bicycling rates are safer for all road users by Wesley Marshall (University of Colorado Denver) and Nicholas Ferenchak (University of New Mexico) Protected Bike Lanes Are Safer for Drivers, Too by Laura Bliss, The Atlantic's CityLab

Handling both technology and telecom as CTO of New York City DOT, Cordell Schachter has seen it all. In an effort to make travel safer for all NYC travelers, no matter their chosen mode of transportation, Cordell has helped initiate and manage efforts across the transportation board and talks with us about congestion pricing, 5G deployment, connected vehicle pilot projects and other ideas to help move the biggest city in the US.

Meet Michigan DOT’s new director Paul Ajegba! For more than 29 years as a civil engineer at MDOT, to now leading the department, the director has a lot to say about how he plans on building on Michigan’s role as a leader in traditional and new transportation infrastructure.   In this edition of POLICYSMART, hear his views on Michigan’s new governor’s gas tax proposal, balancing the deployment of traditional infrastructure with new technologies, shared mobility, DSRC v. 5G and maintaining Michigan’s leading role in research in the connected and autonomous spaces.   It was also a pleasure to hear his work in advancing diversity in the field of transportation as he discusses the program that earned him The National Society of Black Engineers very first Transportation and Infrastructure Special Interest Group Lifetime Achievement Award.

50 years ago, Walter Cronkite announced that Chattanooga, TN had the dirtiest air in America. But then Chattanooga started investing in blazing fast internet service and now the city is considered a model Smart City to watch.   In this episode of POLICYSMART, we speak with Chattanooga's Smart Cities Director, Kevin Comstock. He shares with us the tech that created the Chattanooga Smart City and that keeps the city growing.   Kevin Comstock can be contacted at kcomstock@chattanooga.gov.   Also check out the #talkITS magazine article, The Chattanooga Flavor of Smart Cities.

Scooters and e-bikes are everywhere—and they seem to have appeared overnight. You've probably tripped over a scooter before...or ridden one to work. You've probably also gone on an e-bike joyride while touring a city. Our guest, Rasheq Zarif, speaks with us about how these small wheels actually help fill a big need in our cities. He is a managing director at Deloitte and leads the tech sector for the Future of Mobility. No one can argue that micromobility is disrupting America's cities (and abroad!). How can we work these micro-machines into our cities? What benefits can we get from them? Rasheq is also the lead author of a new report, "Small is beautiful: Making micromobility work for citizens, cities, and service providers."

Long haul. Regional, local and logistical delivery. Truck drivers and the general public.  Autonomous, connected, and new mobility platforms are taking center stage in trucking companies large and small. Ross Froat, Director of Engineering and Information Technology at the American Trucking Associations, talks about how these new technologies are front-and-center for an industry that brings us just about everything we use every day.

Upending the status quo. That’s a given with new mobility. So how do local and state governments work with manufacturers and product and service providers in helping the public both understand and become engaged in the promises of change? We spoke with Claudia Bilotto, WSP USA's transportation and infrastructure area manager for the city of Atlanta at this year’s Transportation Research Board’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. As an advisor to both government and private industry, she shares some of her best practices and ideas in this edition of POLICYSMART.

Mcity. It may be a mock city proving ground for connected and autonomous vehicles but what is taking place there, and around Ann Arbor, is making the use of these technologies real, including a new testing system for evaluating the safety of autonomous vehicles. Carrie Morton is Deputy Director of this amazing research facility and shares some of the ideas of what makes it cutting edge. You can learn more at mcity.umich.edu.

How is the insurance industry playing a role in the deployment of connected, autonomous and new mobility systems? Don Civgin, President of Service Businesses at Allstate Corporation, is on a mission to make sure the traditional players in this field know that Allstate through its spin-off Arity is ready to be a critical player in making next generation transportation a reality. With 20 billion miles of data this new company is ready to add to the safety equation by redefining insurance and risk and giving travelers the option of contributing to a new paradigm in personal transportation as well as transportation services. If you want to know more about Arity, check it out here https://www.arity.com/.

How can transportation care for the elderly? Will there ever be a convenient solution for that distance from your house to a public transit station? How much do our own behaviors influence AI?   Dr. Susan Shaheen is a pioneer in transportation and she was thinking about connected and autonomous mobility long before it was front page news. Whenever smart people come together to talk about the future of transportation, the sharing economy, and the effect of it all on our environment Susan is among them, often leading the conversation around research she has or is doing as the co-director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center (TSRC) at the University of California (UC), Berkeley. We stole a little bit of her time at this years Transportation Research Board meeting in Washington, D.C. and picked her brain about what really is around the corner for transportation.   LINK: "Late-Night Transportation: How Two Public Agencies Are Filling Service Gaps Through Mobility on Demand" by Susan Shaheen on Move Forward

The Future of Privacy? Isn’t that the question, as we get closer to the promises of new mobility systems driving transportation? Lauren Smith, with the Future of Privacy Forum, who deals with the policy of all things private and not so private when it comes to data, joined us as she had just finished a panel at the most recent Transportation Research Board annual meeting in Washington. She shares a different perspective on what privacy we all should - or should not - expect in the future. LINK: FPF and NADA Launch Guide to Consumer Privacy in the Connected Car

A Top 10 Disruptor by the Eno Foundation and one of Mass Transit’s Top 40 Under 40 list, Matt Cole is President of Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) and senior vice president, Cubic Corporation.  Matt led the launch of the NextCity project and in this edition of POLICYSMART, he talks about how new mobility options, integrated payment systems, AI and autonomous and connected technologies are quickly coming together to create the smart cities of the future.

What are the trends in new mobility in 2019? How do you turn big data into useful information for decision-making? How do cities keep in mind issues like equity when implementing new technologies? And what is it actually like to ride in an autonomous vehicle? My friend Courtney Ehrlichman—a leader in intelligent and new mobility systems, founder of The Ehrlichman Group, and co-founder of RoadBotics—joined us at the 2019 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting this year to answer these questions (and more!) about emerging mobility and disruptive technology.  

Happy New Year! We all take time every January to figure out how we can make a difference.  In this first edition of POLICYSMART for 2019, we introduce you to someone who took one stone, dropped it in the larger pool, and created positive energy to change a city.  Listen to our discussion with Drew Philp as he describes what he chose to do to help the city of Detroit. ADDITIONAL LINKS: A $500 House in Detroit, the book Drew Philp on The Guardian

As the former Director of Caltrans, Malcolm Dougherty has more than 25 years of experience in shepherding in new mobility systems. He's seen the transportation industry go through all kinds of changes and transitions. Malcolm is now the Senior Vice President and National Transportation Practice Lead at Michael Baker International. Join us for a brilliant, high-tech conversation with Malcolm about ITS, P3s, DSRC, AV, and all things cutting-edge and transportation.

Threat analysis. Data protection. Risk Avoidance. What are cities, states and the federal government doing to take the steps necessary to protect data and operations, as the day to day of transportation become increasingly interconnected with the internet of things? Tony Rucci has spent the last 34 years in technical security intelligence and he shares some of his experience and insights into what is out there now and what we can expect in the future.

Happy Thanksgiving and welcome to a new edition of the POLICYSMART podcast where we talk to Carlos “Los” Whittaker—the author of “Kill the Spider” and “Moment Maker”—about his journey in taking control of life by creating moments that let you do just that.  Yes! This is directly relevant to working in transportation. It’s a little gift to everyone as we enter the 2019 holiday season!

When Catherine McCullough, President and CEO of the Intelligent Car Coalition speaks...people listen. She has the background on all things new mobility. Autonomous? Connected! What’s next? Find out in this discussion we got to have with her during INTERSECT18.

Big news for the workforce out of the INTERSECT18 conference last week with the announcement of a new intelligent transportation certification process. Aptly named Semaphore, this course is meant to address the workforce knowledge issues needed to advance new mobility including connected and autonomous vehicles and connected infrastructure.    Elaina Farnsworth, an internationally recognized expert specializing in re-skilling the future workforce, talks about how individuals, private and public entities can sign up and learn! Check out https://www.thenexted.com!

Seattle has made it official policy to provide equity in transportation as well as across other city services.  Naomi Doerner, Seattle DOT's Transportation Equity Program Manager, left the private sector to help lead the effort and she so doing amazing things many ideas which were fostered from her own personal background. 

Do you think your idea can make a difference? No matter how large? No matter how small?  Meet Myung J. Lee, the Executive Director of Cities of Service, a nonprofit that helps mayors build stronger cities by changing the way local government and citizens work together. How can transportation benefit? Join more than 250 cities from around the world in asking the questions!

What does the consumer think about all things autonomous? What is their advocate telling state and federal lawmakers and regulators? On this edition of POLICYSMART, we asked Jack Gillis, Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of America to give us his insights. It is interesting conversation.  

Lyndsay Digneo is the aviation STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) manager for the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City.  An engineer and the daughter of educators, she entered the field of transportation to reach those in the next generation.  She is inspiring, creative and smart.  If you are in transportation or education, check out what she is doing in this episode of POLICYSMART. For more information on free aviation curriculum programs, email the Aviation STEM mailbox at 9–ac-avstem@faa.com.

This week, we're looking back to look forward. A few weeks ago, we had a conversation with Elaina Farnsworth—previously CEO of Mobile Comply, now CEO of NEXT Education—about the importance of workforce development and being prepared for the next generation of mobility. GRIDSMART has teamed up with NEXT Education for a next generation and certification program, and we want you to hear what she had to say about why this is all so important.

Question for you: What does learning to drive a farm tractor as a young girl have to do with driving autonomous and connected vehicle public policy? Catherine McCullough, founder and CEO of the Intelligent Car Coalition brings it all home to her work in Washington, DC. In this edition of POLICYSMART, she talks to Regina about how data is at the center of moving forward in a connected and autonomous world.

Wanna hear from the leading state in new mobility? Wanna hear from an international player in day to day traffic management with a great story on how America goes to Egypt? Wanna hear about new technology on the road and a new autonomous spec car with no steering wheel from a leading American OEM? Then you gotta listen to this new episode of POLICYSMART. We hear from TrafficWare's Jon Newhard, Michigan DOT's Kirk Steudle, and GM's Gary Smyth at ITS Detroit.

We’re taking a slight detour this week from research and big dreams to what’s on the roads right now and how current technologies for traffic management are dealing with the issues of today while preparing for the future.

This episode of POLICYSMART in the last of our Women in ITS Series for the month of May.  We end on a high note with a far-reaching interview with Zeina Nazer, a Senior Transport Advisor with 23 years of experience in Intelligent Infrastructure Systems.  The “Best Business Woman of the Year” at the 8th Middle East Businesswomen and Leaders Achievement Awards, Dubai, UAE, and a member of the WTS Board of Directors, Zeina joins us from Dubai to talk about her journey in transportation and what the world is doing with ITS.  (Oh, and in her spare time she and her sisters founded Jardins D’EDEN a natural skin products line ~ so she is also an entrepreneur!)

We continue our Women in Transportation month with a discussion with PennDOT Secretary Leslie Richards.  Having just been named WTS (Women’s Transportation Seminar) Woman of the Year, Leslie is changing the way states are looking at merging traditional and new infrastructure.  Regina Hopper talks with her as she explains how she also proved to be a leader in dealing with issues around autonomous vehicles.  

It’s a first of its kind transportation cybersecurity group formed by a private company.  Called the GRIDSMART Information Security and Threat Intelligence Division, this new effort will help identify issues before they become threats in our increasingly connected and automated transportation world.  In this special edition of POLICYSMART, Regina talks with Tony Rucci who will lead this effort and dives into his counterintelligence past and how that experience will advance this future work.  

This month POLICYSMART is celebrating women in transportation. We kick off the series by talking with Tina Quigley, general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada.  Tina has helped make the region a leader in autonomous and connected technologies to advance the next generation of transportation. She shares her thoughts about how she became involved in transportation, where she sees the future of mobility headed and how she’s trying to put Las Vegas and southern Nevada on the map when it comes to intelligent transportation.

The nation's governors have been at the center of innovation for years and they continue the trend in intelligent transportation and Smart Cities Initiatives. In this episode of POLICYSMART, Regina talks with Sue Gander, Division Director, Environment, Energy and Transportation Division of the National Governors Association (NGA) about the work that is happening there on transportation as well as a new Smart Cities, Smart Communities initiative being launched over the course of the next couple of years. In addition, Sue talks with Regina about her life in public policy.

Jason Goldman, VP for External Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement at Intelligent Transportation Systems of America (ITS America), joins Regina Hopper to talk about the legislative and regulatory landscape of ITS. He explains why ITS is stuck both in terms of legislation and regulation, the issues with funding for President Trump's infrastructure bill, how this year's electoral politics plays into the world of ITS, and more. Don't forget to tune into next Wednesday's (4/11/2018) webinar at 1:30 PM EDT! Regina and Jason will do a deep-dive into Washington's role in nextgen mobility and how it impacts states and cities/communities in moving intelligent transportation and next generation mobility forward. Register for the webinar here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bmhRMwcrSWiUYjHPt-F0rw

We're moving into INTERSECT18 later this year in November. Regina Hopper talks to Bill Malkes, CEO of GRIDSMART, about the future of ITS, including equality in the transportation system and the job skills we will need. In the words of Bill Malkes, "It's time to get our hands dirty and to make things happen."

You have heard from Elaina Farnsworth, CEO of Mobile Comply, before on this POLICYSMART podcast, but in this episode she talks about the need for certification for intelligent transportation training and what that means for the next generation workforce. This is a follow up to the discussion we previous previously had with Elaina on issues around the workforce for the future.

What does the next generation workforce look like? What needs to be done now to be prepared for the future? In this episode of POLICYSMART, Regina Hopper talks with Elaina Farnsworth, CEO of Mobile Comply, to dive into the debate and what working in “transportation” will mean.

In his State of the Union address, President Trump devoted time to lay out how he would like it to work with Congress on a new Infrastructure bill. What are the pieces behind the words? In this special edition of POLICYSMART, Regina Hopper breaks it down and takes a look at what’s next.

You can no longer have a conversation about next generation transportation or intelligent transportation without talking about drones. Where will they operate? What are the right-of-way issues? What are the insurance issues? What are the questions that we’re not asking? John Ellis, the author of The Zero Dollar Car, joins Regina Hopper in this edition of POLICYSMART to take a look at the future.