Puerto Rico transportation secretary named to federal advisory committee

Puerto Rico Department of Transportation and Public Works Secretary Eileen Vélez-Vega was chosen among 27 members of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s recently launched Transforming Transportation Advisory Committee (TTAC) to provide advice to DOT and the Secretary of Transportation about plans and approaches for transportation innovation.

Advisory committee members were selected for their ability to provide diverse perspectives across sectors, geographies, and areas of expertise. The 27 TTAC members include experts from academia, think tanks, the public sector, labor, and industry covering topics including automation, cybersecurity, safety, accessibility, law, government, entrepreneurship, privacy, equity, and more.

“We’re living in a time filled with unprecedented opportunity and unprecedented challenges in transportation,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The deep expertise and diverse perspectives of this impressive group will provide advice to ensure the future of transportation is safe, efficient, sustainable, equitable, and transformative.”

TTAC members will serve 2-year terms and may be reappointed. DOT “strived to select individuals with in-depth knowledge of their respective industries or sectors and worked to achieve the most diverse and comprehensive points of view.”

Membership is an unpaid position, the federal agency stated.

The first TTAC meeting will be held Jan. 18. The Committee will explore and consider issues related to:

• Pathways to safe, secure, equitable, environmentally friendly, and accessible deployments of emerging technologies.
• Integrated approaches to promote greater cross-modal integration of emerging technologies, in particular applications to deploy automation.
• Policies that encourage innovation to grow and support a safe and productive U.S. workforce, as well as foster economic competitiveness and job quality.
• Approaches and frameworks that encourage the secure exchange and sharing of transformative transportation data, including technologies and infrastructure, across the public and private sectors that can guide core policy decisions across DOT’s strategic goals.
• Ways the Department can identify and elevate cybersecurity solutions and protect privacy across transportation systems and infrastructure.
• Other emerging issues, topics, and technologies.