connectedvehicles

Nov. 28, 2016

 

Teams from 10 Texas cities will meet in Austin on Dec. 1 and 2 at the first Texas Mobility Summit to collaborate on a transportation strategy to advance the creation of a Smart State Consortium, encourage public-private dialogue, and galvanize key leadership in developing innovative solutions to the state’s mobility challenges.

The event hosted by TxDOT’s Texas Technology Task Force will convene teams from Arlington, Austin, Bryan-College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Houston, and San Antonio as well as a Texas R&D team made up of the University of Texas at Austin, the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and the Southwest Research Institute. Teams will consist of a cross section of leadership from transportation and community agencies.

The Summit program calls for teams to present their visions for an innovative mobility system leading to discussion and consensus among the participants. Day 1 will include key speakers Mark Dowd, former USDOT Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research & Technology, Rob Spillar, Director of the City of Austin’s Transportation Department, and Joseph Kopser, President of moovel Global.

Day 2 of the summit opens with an address from State Rep. Joe Pickett, chairman of the Texas House Committee on Transportation, followed by a panel of mayors moderated by Evan Smith, CEO and co-founder of the Texas Tribune. Mayors include Mayor Jeff Williams of Arlington, Mayor Oscar Leeser of El Paso, Mayor Betsy Price of Fort Worth and Mayor Ivy Taylor of San Antonio.

“This inaugural event will promote Texas as a leader in mobility and innovation,” said Professor Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, and Chair of the Texas Technology Task Force. 

“City, regional, and research teams will have the opportunity to share their ideas – from enabling connected vehicles to providing transportation options at your fingertips – and develop a common vision for the future of Texas mobility.” Input during the two-day event will be the basis for a developmental roadmap for the Smart State Consortium, an advancement of the USDOT’s Smart City Challenge in which Austin was a finalist. The groundbreaking Challenge reimagined the way cities use technology and innovation to drive change and solve problems related to mobility, demonstrating the power of public-private partnerships by raising close to $500 million in additional funding from the private sector.

“Through this summit, we will begin building a network of leadership across the state that will identify shared challenges, create an agenda for action and strengthen the ability for Texas to compete for federal and private funding. It will also help us to better leverage resources across the state and facilitate knowledge and technology transfer,” said Darran Anderson, TxDOT Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer.

For more information on the Texas Mobility Summit, go to http://ctr.utexas.edu/texas-mobility-summit/.