August 19, 2019
THE ROAD TO LOS ANGELES: #ITSWC20
While it may seem like the 2019 ITS America annual meeting just wrapped up, planning for the ITS World Congress in Los Angeles is in full swing. The New Age of Mobility will take place October 4-8, 2020 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and it promises to be an Oscar-worthy performance.
The Pathways to Seamless Mobility Pavilion will anchor the exhibit floor. It will showcase how select global cities are leading the way on the integration of innovative Mobility on Demand (MOD) and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solutions as well as improving equity, access and ease of travel for people across the world. The pavilion will be organized around the building blocks of mobility: Mobility Services, Data Services, Operator Services, Customer Services, Payment/Pricing Services and Infrastructure Services, and cities featured in the pavilion – Los Angeles, CA; Hamburg, Germany; Suzhou, China; and Las Vegas, NV – will highlight these blocks and focus more specifically on 1-2 key areas they are actively implementing.
The recent explosion of new technologies and new forms of mobility are transforming the future of transportation. How will we prepare for a future that is more connected, automated, shared and electric? Be a part of the discussion! The #ITSWC20 call for contributions is now open. Contributors will identify up to three cross-cutting technology below that fits within one of the eight programming themes:
· Seamless Mobility and Changing Behavior
· Fueling the Future: Alternative Fuels and Emissions
· The Path to Vision Zero
· Disruption on the Digital Highway: Data
· Technology from Entry to the Last Mile
· Intelligent, Connected and Automated Vehicles
· Connectivity or Spectrum/Networks
· Organizing for Success, Governance, Business Models, International Cooperation
ITS America has also developed several new programs for the 2020 World Congress. In partnership with Prospect Silicon Valley, the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, ERTICO and ITS Asia-Pacific, ITS America is planning a Global Innovation Start-Up Competition, which will highlight emerging companies with solutions that create a Safer, Greener, and Smarter mobility system. Regional competitions will be held in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific and each will produce two semi-finalists by summer of 2020. The six semi-finalists will compete at the World Congress, where they will be judged by a panel of international executives.
The Emerging Leaders Program (ELP) is designed to engage students and develop young professionals globally to become involved in the field of mobility and transportation through competition and exposure. The ELP is made up of three parts:
· Global Challenge. Designed for university students who are interested in mobility and technology, this challenge will recruit teams of students around the world to solve a mobility challenge. A virtual competition will be held this academic year, and one team each from the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe teams will advance to the final round at the World Congress.
· National Immersion Program. This is an opportunity for high school students to become exposed to the world of intelligent mobility, with the possibility of furthering an education in the transportation field. After a problem-solving pre-competition, three teams will be selected to attend the ITS World Congress in Los Angeles to display their solutions and engage in educational programming and hands-on activities related to intelligent mobility.
· Local Awareness Program. This program is designed to highlight the expanding scope of intelligent transportation and mobility. It is geared to attract up to 1,000 high school students and their teachers from the Los Angeles Metropolitan area to the World Congress for single-day programming on new mobility technologies and careers stemming from this growing field.
ITS America expects all these programs to be major draws for the event, and sponsorship opportunities are available for each one. The #ITSWC20 websitehas more information on everything outlined above and is updated on a regular basis. If you haven’t done so already, please mark your calendars for October 4-8 of next year – the 27th ITS World Congress is sure to be a box office blockbuster!
ITSA STAFF CONNECTION: BOBBY MCCURDY
Name: Bobby McCurdy
Title: Policy Analyst
Company: ITS America
Short Job description/Role Responsibility: My role primarily involves supporting ITSA’s policy team through research and analysis of legislative and political factors influencing transportation policy. I help create materials on the issues important to our members, on topics such as connected vehicles, automation, mobility, and cybersecurity.
Favorite Part of working at ITSA: Working with such a fun and capable team to help usher in the transportation technology of the future.
What’s the future of #ITS look like to you? The potential of connected vehicle technology to make our roads safer and less congested is incredibly exciting to me. The list of functions that are already possible with V2X are amazing, and the things we can accomplish with it in the future are boundless. That, coupled with the promise of automated vehicles and innovative mobility services makes this an incredible field to work in every day.
Hobbies: Catan and following campaign twitter
First car you drove?: a Rav4 called “2LANEZ”
Karaoke Song: “Rocket Man” by Elton John
Hidden Talent: Singing patriotic hymns
