Session Moderators

Moderator(s): 
Danyell Diggs, Senior Transportation Program Analyst, Federal Transit Administration 

Steven Mortensen, Senior ITS Engineer, Federal Transit Administration

Justin John, Transportation Program Specialist, Federal Transit Administration

Session Organizers

Organizers:
Steven Mortensen, Senior ITS Engineer, FTA
Danyell Diggs, Senior Transportation Program Analyst, FTA
Justin John, Transportation Program Specialist, FTA
Kelsey Cooper, Transportation Policy Analyst, USDOT Volpe Center
Joshua Cregger, Technology Policy Analyst, USDOT Volpe Center
Ian Berg, Technology Policy Analyst, USDOT Volpe Center

TRB Sponsoring Committees and Partners

Session Description and Agenda

Description

Driving automation technologies have the potential to transform the transit industry. During this session, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) staff will share lessons learned over the past several years of transit bus automation research and provide information on their next five-year research roadmap. This session will also explore transit bus automation demonstrations that have been funded and managed by FTA, including those that have been completed, are ongoing, or are in planning stages.

Agenda

10:30 - 10:35 AM – Welcome and Introduction
Speaker: Danyell Diggs, Senior Transportation Program Analyst, FTA

10:35 - 10:55 AM – FTA Update and Introduction to the Strategic Transit Automation Research (STAR) Plan 2.0
Speakers:
• Danyell Diggs, Senior Transportation Program Analyst, FTA
• Steven Mortensen, Senior ITS Engineer, FTA

10:55 - 11:55 AM – Panel Discussion: Active and Upcoming Demonstration Projects
Moderator: Justin John, Transportation Program Specialist, FTA

Panelists:
• Heather Pickering-Hilgers, Assistant Director of Mobility Technology, Colorado Department of Transportation
• Graham Curtis, Assistant Administrator for Public Transit, Connecticut Department of Transportation
• Tim Haile, Executive Director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority
• Kimberly J. Williams, Chief Innovation Officer, Houston METRO
• Jacob Labutka, Planning Manager, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority

11:55 - 12:00 PM – Closing Remarks
Speaker: Justin John, Transportation Program Specialist, FTA

Session Objectives

This breakout session will:

1.) Help participants understand the latest advances and developments in automated transit bus technologies and pilot projects, as well as the findings and lessons learned from FTA-supported demonstration projects.

2.) Share information on FTA’s transit bus automation plans moving forward and introduce its Strategic Transit Automation Research (STAR) Plan 2.0 to session participants while getting feedback on past, ongoing, and future FTA work.

3.) Create opportunities for in-person discussion between transit stakeholder participants representing industry, academia, and public sector organizations.