Alliance aims to influence transportation policy

The Washington DC-based Alliance for Transportation Innovation (ATI21) is a new consortium of innovators, experts and researchers and is headed by former US DoT and Defence Department insider Paul Brubaker. The non-profit organisation aims to increase public awareness of the benefits of transport innovations and to lobby leaders and lawmakers on behalf of its members.

According to Brubaker, ATI21 was born out of frustration as transportation is highly regulated but the regulatory environment is not keeping pace with innovations. Innovators are having trouble getting their innovations to market – not only because of legislation but also because of public opinion.

Brubaker said: “The regulatory environment is highly insulated and those ‘silos of excellence’ are not cross pollinating ideas across the modes. What we can do outside that we couldn’t do inside is to communicate across those boundaries and point out many solutions are multi-modal.”

ATI21 is hosting an Autonomous Vehicle Road Tour to expose the public, policy makers, elected officials and civic leaders to what it says are the benefits of accelerating the deployment of autonomous vehicles.

“Public support gets the attention of policy makers in a way that allows you to effect change,” Brubaker said.