Intelligent Transpo Roadmap Stresses Long-Term Thinking on Funding
Image: U.S. Dept. of Transportation
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Image: U.S. Dept. of Transportation
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Among the numerous recommendations laid out in a public-policy roadmap issued on Feb. 8 by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, is a call to a potentially leverage a “tax overhaul” to fund new transportation infrastructure.
The expansive document covers a range of policy arenas that impact the research and deployment of intelligent transportation— aka “mobility”—technologies. These include everything from robotics and automation to artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
ITS America said the related issues in play include “looking for new and long-term funding and financing options around much needed transportation investment” along with cybersecurity/privacy, easing the transition to automated and connected vehicles, increasing integration of technologies that improve the operational life and efficiency of road networks, and “energizing new business models of passenger and freight mobility.”
President and CEO Regina Hopper. “This roadmap provides Federal, State, and Local policymakers with the tools to capitalize on this innovation—from automated vehicles to highways and traffic lights that communicate in real time with drivers on the road. Now is the time to jumpstart the economy and save thousands of lives per year.”
Specific to transportation funding, the roadmap’s recommendations include:
Promote Innovative Models in Transportation Funding, Finance, Partnerships and Performance Measures. “Address potential use of a tax overhaul to fund new and long-term transportation infrastructure and systems with a focus on technology-driven mobility investments.”Increase Overall Investments in Transportation with a Greater Focus on Technology. “Support new and long-term sustainable funding and financing in transportation infrastructure that expand technology-driven mobility investments and preserves the broad ITS eligibilities under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) to fund technology capital projects and operations and maintenance. Advocate for flexible policies regarding Federal/State/Local matching requirements (e.g., 100% Federal funding upfront for technology-driven mobility infrastructure investments).”Encourage Federal Funding Flexibility and New Funding Mechanisms. Advocate for flexible …Read the rest of this story
