DOT launches panel for transportation automation

An Argo AI autonomous vehicle driving down the road. | Photo Credit: Argo AI

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced this week that it’s establishing a federal advisory committee that will make recommendations on how to best innovate the transportation industry. The Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee (TTAC) will be made up of 25 members appointed by the DOT secretary for up to two-year terms.

The TTAC will make recommendations on how the DOT can best handle emerging technologies. The DOT set out six issues for the committee to focus on:

Explore pathways to deploying emerging technologies in safe, secure, equitable, environmentally friendly and accessible ways.
Find ways to promote cross-modal integration of emerging technologies, particularly in deploying automation.
Recommend policies that encourage innovation, support a safe and productive workforce and foster economic competitiveness and job quality.
Assess approaches that encourage secure sharing of transformative transportation data, including technologies that can guide core policy decisions.
Explore ways the DOT can elevate cybersecurity solutions and protect privacy across transportation systems.
Consider other emerging issues, topics and technologies.

Members of the TTAC will include safety advocates, academic experts, representatives of organized labor, technical experts in automation, data, privacy and cybersecurity and industry representatives. According to the DOT, the committee’s membership should be as balanced as possible.

The DOT plans to recruit committee members by soliciting membership through a notice in the Federal Register and other advertisements. Interested candidates can send in an application, which will be reviewed by a designated federal officer and the secretary of transportation.

According to the DOT, the committee is expected to have annual operating costs totaling around $200,000. While the members of the committee will not be paid, the department expects to bring on two full-time equivalent positions to support the committee.