ITS America President & CEO Shailen Bhatt statement regarding House Transportation & Infrastructure (T&I) Committee January 22 letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman and Commissioners:

“Leaders and members of the House T&I Committee told the FCC they were ‘alarmed’ at the Commission’s proposal to give away a majority of the 5.9GHz spectrum currently reserved for transportation safety communications – we certainly agree.

Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications is the best safety tool we have in the fight against this epidemic of roadway deaths – more than 100 people die every day. We question why the Commission is ignoring research from the U.S. Department of Transportation that outlines all the negative impacts that would come with the loss of spectrum. And Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, in a letter to the FCC late last year, said the proposal was ‘insufficiently grounded.’

ITS America appreciates the House T&I Committee’s leadership and ongoing work on this critical issue. We will continue to work with the committee, and all those committed to improving safety on our roads, to ensure that the entire 5.9 band is preserved for life-saving transportation communications.”

Contact: Cathy St. Denis, cstdenis@itsa.org

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About ITS America: The Intelligent Transportation Society of America advances the research and deployment of intelligent transportation technologies to save lives, improve mobility, promote sustainability, and increase efficiency and productivity. Our vision is a better future transformed by intelligent mobility: safer, greener, smarter. For more information, please visit www.itsa.org