Earlier this month, I drove 900 miles along the northeast corridor from Washington, D.C. to Boston and back. I passed crashes, from minor fender benders to more significant collisions, disabled vehicles blocking travel lanes, emergency vehicles responding to events, construction workers in active work zones, a mattress on the highway, and, at times, encountered rain and fog that significantly reduced visibility. Despite the advanced technology in my car and copious amounts of data generated by vehicles, their sensors, and other infrastructure assets, I had surprisingly little information about what was happening on the roadway around me and how it could impact my safety and my journey.  

Imagine if we were able to communicate this critical information to drivers and road users to positively impact safety, reduce congestion, and meaningfully improve transportation for Americans. 

Year after year we wait to see NHTSA’s annual roadway fatality numbers, hoping against all reasonable odds for a change. But that number is stubbornly stuck around 40,000 deaths, despite, or perhaps because, investment and policy efforts have largely focused on our physical infrastructure and viewed technology solutions as an afterthought. The toll is not only measured in the lives of mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, and neighbors, but also in the $800 billion these crashes cost our economy. 

How much time did you lose sitting in traffic last year?  According to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Americans lose nearly 54 hours to traffic congestion each year.  Those are hours not spent with family, friends, or loved ones. Congestion costs the U.S. economy over $224 billion annually in lost productivity, wasted fuel, and delayed goods, which also raises prices for consumers.  

It doesn’t have to be this way.  

If we invest in making our infrastructure smarter, more connected, and digitally enabled, we can alert drivers of an impending collision in real time. Traffic signals can instantly adapt to people crossing the street or speeding vehicles to keep everyone safe. We can reduce congestion by using AI to optimize a network of traffic signals with the click of a button. We can use new technology tools to predict a possible catastrophic issue on a bridge before failure – saving lives, time, and money. We can do all of this while increasing return on investment and strengthening our global leadership as a country. 

And the best part is – we can do all this today if we go bold on innovation.  

Our transportation system is no longer just concrete, asphalt, and steel. Today, our transportation system includes sensors, software, data, algorithms, cloud computing, and communications systems more advanced than ever before. If we are truly looking to make an impact on our nation’s transportation safety record and improve the way we transport goods, we must prioritize investing in digital infrastructure, not just the physical. This may be different than how we typically do things – but that’s a good thing.  

Our surface transportation system deserves state-of-the-art technology suitable for the 21st century and beyond, but unfortunately, previous Federal priorities and investments have come up short. 

Current technology projects are mostly focused on pilots and demonstrations – which are often too small in size and scope to make a lasting impact on our system. The U.S. has a monumental opportunity to charge ahead as the leader in transportation technology and innovation, reaping the safety, efficiency, and economic benefits of investing in technology. In the next surface transportation bill, we must integrate technology in a meaningful way by providing certain funding for transportation technology directly to states who implement these projects. Technology can no longer be an afterthought, particularly when the benefits are so clear.   

ITS America has put forward policy principles for the upcoming surface reauthorization that seek to integrate digital infrastructure technologies more holistically into federal transportation programs and move our system in a more innovative and modern direction.

As the transportation community celebrates Infrastructure Week, we must focus on modernizing our transportation system for the future – by leveraging innovation and technology to solve our nation’s longstanding safety and efficiency challenges. 

Bold leadership is needed to achieve bold results.  It is time for Congress and the Administration to be bold on innovation to finally build a transportation system that Americans deserve. 

Laura Chace, President and CEO of ITS America