Building on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s future-focused “Beyond Traffic” draft report outlining upcoming trends of the next 30 years, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced a solicitation for applicants to be designated as U.S. DOT Beyond Traffic Innovation Centers. These Centers will be capable of driving solutions to the challenges identified in Beyond Traffic through research, curriculum, outreach and other activities. Some of the challenges outlined in Beyond Traffic include 45 percent more freight on the roads and 70 million more people living in the United States by 2045.
“Beyond Traffic launched a national conversation about how our country will change in the next 30 years, often in ways that seriously test our transportation system. Our educational institutions are critical to helping us solve these challenges,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “These designations will create a community of forward-thinking researchers, students and thought leaders who will play an important role in ensuring our economy continues to grow, as we protect our planet and the American people through a safe, strong and sustainable transportation network for decades to come.”
With the nation’s transportation system experiencing repeated impacts due to population growth, changes in climate, a stressed freight network and inaction to address these impacts, such a discourse could not come at a more crucial time. Beyond Traffic was developed by a team of Departmental experts, with input from the public, to conduct a comprehensive examination of our Nation’s transportation system. In the fall of 2015, Secretary Foxx and his team traveled to eleven emerging megaregions to solicit feedback on the draft report. Specifically, communities provided feedback on the gaps in opportunity exacerbated by disparities in transportation access and past infrastructure decisions.
The designated U.S. DOT Beyond Traffic Innovation Centers will help to continue this conversation in their respective mega regions through, for example, curriculum, workforce training, outreach events or research focused on the future of our transportation system.
