December 8, 2009

Dear ITS Community,
I am pleased to report that today the ITS Management Council endorsed the 5-year ITS Strategic Research Plan with full support. The Management Council embraced the plan’s potential to substantially improve safety, mobility and present opportunities for environmental improvement through connectivity.

We will soon provide additional information on this website about the plan and what it means for stakeholders. We also look forward to talking with stakeholders about the plan during the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in January.

Now that the plan has full USDOT support, the ITS Joint Program Office and modal partners are focused on its execution. We aim to balance the needs for rapid execution of work that is already clearly defined and for which stakeholders have indicated a clear interest, with the desire for additional stakeholder input on many aspects of the work program. Toward this end, we plan to seek additional input from you over the coming months to help us refine the scope of these programs.

We are excited about the potential of this research plan to enhance people’s lives through connectivity. We believe that it is critical to enable a safer, more efficient and sustainable multi-modal transportation system for the future. USDOT is committed to seeing this work through, and we look forward to working with the community to make it happen. Thank you for your support and input throughout the process.

Shelley Row
Director, ITS Joint Program Office
Research & Innovative Technology Administration
RITA