2015 Report to Congress

Intelligent Transportation Systems
Program Advisory Committee
2015 Report to Congress

1. Overview

• Pursuant to Section 53003 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), this report provides a summary of preliminary discussions of the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Program Advisory Committee (ITS PAC or Committee) in 2014. The ITS PAC made no formal recommendations to the Department in 2014.
• The Secretary was directed, initially in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) and again in MAP-21, to establish the Committee with no more than 20 members to provide advice to the Secretary on ITS aspects of the Department’s strategic plan and on ITS research funding. The Secretary is directed also to submit a report to Congress not later than February 1 of each year that includes the following:
  • all recommendations made by the Committee during the preceding calendar year;
  • an explanation of the manner in which the Secretary has implemented those recommendations; and
  • for recommendations not implemented, the reasons for rejecting the recommendations.
• In response to the legislative directive, the Secretary established the ITS PAC in 2006. Since its inception, the ITS PAC has met 20 times and has submitted 6 advice memoranda to the Secretary.

Summary of ITS PAC Activity To Date

• In June of 2014, ITS PAC membership was reconstituted with 14 new and 6 returning members. The Committee held one in-person meeting and two teleconferences in 2014. The first two meetings focused on providing ITS PAC members basic information on the roles and responsibilities of the committee and information on the Department’s ITS Program strategic planning efforts and processes. In the final meeting of 2014, the committee had a wide-ranging discussion and identified several draft topic areas for further study in developing advice to the Secretary. The reconstituted ITS PAC made no formal recommendations to the Department in 2014.
• The Committee currently is in the initial stages of planning its next meeting in early 2015.
• The Department looks forward to a substantive dialogue with the Committee membership. The observations and forthcoming recommendations from the Committee will serve as valuable input to the planning and execution of the ITS research agenda.