    [Senate Hearing 116-598]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                           S. Hrg. 116-598

                      EXAMINING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS
                               IN TRANSPORTATION

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   BEFORE THE

                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND SAFETY

                                     OF THE

                             COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
                          SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                                 JUNE 25, 2019

                                   __________

        Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
                                 Transportation

    [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

                    Available online: http://www.govinfo.gov

                                   __________

                        U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
    52-726                        WASHINGTON : 2023

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

           SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                         ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                      ROGER WICKER, Mississippi, Chairman
    JOHN THUNE, South Dakota             MARIA CANTWELL, Washington,
    ROY BLUNT, Missouri                      Ranking
    TED CRUZ, Texas                      AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
    DEB FISCHER, Nebraska                RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
    JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
    DAN SULLIVAN, Alaska                 EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
    CORY GARDNER, Colorado               TOM UDALL, New Mexico
    MARSHA BLACKBURN, Tennessee          GARY PETERS, Michigan
    SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
    MIKE LEE, Utah                       TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois
    RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin               JON TESTER, Montana
    TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  KYRSTEN SINEMA, Arizona
    RICK SCOTT, Florida                  JACKY ROSEN, Nevada
                           John Keast, Staff Director
                      Crystal Tully, Deputy Staff Director
                          Steven Wall, General Counsel
                     Kim Lipsky, Democratic Staff Director
                  Chris Day, Democratic Deputy Staff Director
                          Renae Black, Senior Counsel
                                     ------

                   SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND SAFETY

    DEB FISCHER, Nebraska, Chairman      TAMMY DUCKWORTH, Illinois, Ranking
    JOHN THUNE, South Dakota             AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
    ROY BLUNT, Missouri                  RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut
    JERRY MORAN, Kansas                  EDWARD MARKEY, Massachusetts
    CORY GARDNER, Colorado               TOM UDALL, New Mexico
    SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia  GARY PETERS, Michigan
    TODD YOUNG, Indiana                  TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin
    RICK SCOTT, Florida

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page
    Hearing held on June 25, 2019....................................     1
    Statement of Senator Fischer.....................................     1
    Statement of Senator Duckworth...................................     2
    Statement of Senator Peters......................................    47
    Statement of Senator Blumenthal..................................    49
    Statement of Senator Thune.......................................    53

                                   Witnesses

    Steve Ingracia, PE, Deputy Director, Technology and Strategic
      Planning, Nebraska Department of Transportation................     3
        Prepared statement...........................................     5
    Shailen P. Bhatt, President and Chief Executive Officer,
      Intelligent Transportation Society of America..................     6
        Prepared statement...........................................     8
    Patrick Duffy, President, Blockchain in Transportation Alliance..    30
        Prepared statement...........................................    32
    Ann Schlenker, Director, Center for Transportation Research,
      Argonne National Laboratory....................................    34
        Prepared statement...........................................    36
    Brent Hutto, Chief Relationship Officer, Truckstop.Com...........    39
        Prepared statement...........................................    40

                                    Appendix

    Response to written questions submitted to Steve Ingracia by:
        Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................    63
        Hon. Amy Klobuchar...........................................    63
    Response to written questions submitted to Shailen P. Bhatt by:
        Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................    64
        Hon. Amy Klobuchar...........................................    64
    Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell
      to:
        Patrick Duffy................................................    65
        Ann Schlenker................................................    65

             EXAMINING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN TRANSPORTATION

                                  ----------

                             TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2019

                                   U.S. Senate,
             Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety,
            Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:34 p.m. in
    room SD-562, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Deb Fischer,
    Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.
        Present: Senators Fischer [presiding], Duckworth, Peters,
    Blumenthal, and Thune.

                OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. DEB FISCHER,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM NEBRASKA

        Senator Fischer. The hearing will come to order.
        Good afternoon. I am pleased to convene the Senate
    Subcommittee on Transportation and Safety for a hearing today
    titled ``Examining Technological Innovations in
    Transportation.''
        Everyone here today knows that technology is increasingly
    changing how we work, stay in contact with friends and family,
    and go about our daily lives. The transportation sector is no
    exception.
        Technology is already changing how we move people and goods
    across this country and there is potential for new technology
    to improve safety, efficiency, and mobility across our surface
    transportation system.
        But with great potential comes challenges. The process of
    adopting new technologies, especially across a complex system
    like the United States transportation network, can come in fits
    and starts.
        Today, the subcommittee has an opportunity to learn about
    the potential new technologies that can be offered and the
    challenges and changes that could come from their adoption.
        As members of this Subcommittee and Congress more broadly
    are debating and considering legislation to reauthorize the
    FAST Act, it is important to understand innovations within the
    transportation system already happening on the ground.
        This is by no means the first time the Congress has debated
    new technologies in transportation. The FAST Act added
    intelligence transportation systems technology as eligible
    activities under several Federal aid funding programs.
        It also established new programs, such as the Advanced
    Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies
    Development Program, which provides grants to states to deploy
    large-scale transportation technologies.
        I was pleased to see the Nebraska Department of
    Transportation working with the Wyoming and Utah Departments of
    Transportation received a $2.8 million Advanced Transportation
    and Congestion Management Technologies Grant this April.
        Nebraska Innovative Project will incorporate sensors along
    I-80 to support Nebraska's DOT understanding and ability to
    respond to traffic and weather conditions.
        Additionally, recognizing that traffic and weather don't
    correspond to state boundaries, this project will support and
    enable the sharing of road condition information between
    Nebraska, Wyoming, and Utah.
        I look forward to hearing more about this and similar
    projects.
        Just as Federal, state, and local governments could improve
    infrastructure, traffic flow, and safety by adopting new
    technologies, the private sector also is looking to technology
    for improvements.
        Innovations, like digital freight matching and visibility,
    could improve the management of available resources, resulting
    in more efficient uses of our current infrastructure.
        Blockchain also has the capacity to heighten efficiencies
    and optimize costs for transportation and logistics.
    Blockchain-powered smart contracts offer the potential to
    better enforce conditions and validate data through the entire
    supply chain, improving vehicle fleet and freight traffic,
    capacity monitoring, platooning, on-time delivery, payment
    management, and regulatory compliance.
        However, the benefits of new technologies are not a
    foregone conclusion. Technology that is adopted today may look
    very different 10 years from now.
        Today's hearing gives us a chance to understand what
    technologies are available today, their potential for tomorrow,
    and the obstacles that need to be overcome along the way.
        It also provides us an opportunity to consider what role
    Congress should have in technology development and deployment
    as we consider reauthorization of the FAST Act.
        We have several witnesses before the Committee today that
    can speak directly about the current and future deployment of
    transportation technologies. I'm grateful to all the witnesses
    for their willingness to travel to participate in the hearing.
        I am particularly pleased to have Steve Ingracia from the
    Nebraska Department of Transportation here to talk about the
    exciting work happening in my home state.
        I look forward to testimony from all our witnesses.
        I would now like to invite my colleague, Ranking Member
    Duckworth, to offer any opening remarks.

                  STATEMENT OF HON. TAMMY DUCKWORTH,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS

        Senator Duckworth. Chairman Fischer, thank you for holding
    today's hearing to Examine Technological Innovations in
    Transportation.
        I would also like to thank our witnesses for participating.
        Given today's hearing topic, it is worth mentioning that
    our national laboratories are the crown jewels of the Nation's
    research and innovation ecosystem.
        I'd like to specifically thank Ann Schlenker, Director of
    the Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National
    Laboratory in Illinois, for being with us today. Welcome.
        Not so long ago, road maps like this were an essential tool
    for anyone driving beyond their hometown. Most of the
    millennials and Gen Zs in my office have no idea what this is.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Duckworth. Yes. Today, GPS-capable devices on our
    phones and cars provide turn-by-turn directions to nearly any
    destination in the world, saving commuters and businesses
    valuable time and resources.
        GPS has become ubiquitous in the transportation sector.
    Every plane and ship uses it to navigate. Thousands of
    businesses and millions of products rely on it and each of us
    has a GPS-capable phone in our pocket. Not many, though, know
    that GPS was developed by our military during the cold war. In
    fact, it's still operated by the United States Air Force in
    partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation and
    other Federal agencies.
        Like our national labs, GPS is a shining example of the
    Federal Government's long history of supporting research and
    development efforts that promote innovation and are a catalyst
    for economic prosperity.
        Last year, Senator Ernst and I started the Senate GPS
    Caucus to shine a light on how this critical technology
    continues to change our world and, in addition to technologies
    like GPS, advances in data collection, computing,
    communication, and mobile technologies are dramatically
    affecting the ways we travel and deliver goods and services.
        These emerging technologies have the ability to make our
    transportation systems safer, more reliable, and more
    efficient.
        I look forward to learning more from our witnesses about
    the opportunities and challenges associated with the emerging
    technologies in the transportation sector.
        I yield back. Thank you.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Duckworth.
        Next, I would ask the witnesses to give their opening
    statements, try to keep those limited to 5 minutes, please, and
    we will begin with Mr. Steven Ingracia, who is the Deputy
    Director for Technology and Strategic Planning with the
    Nebraska Department of Transportation, fairly new in the
    position but not new to the issues.
        So, welcome, Steve.

     STATEMENT OF STEVE INGRACIA, PE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, TECHNOLOGY
                   AND STRATEGIC PLANNING, NEBRASKA
                      DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

        Mr. Ingracia. Thank you, Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member
    Duckworth, and members of the Subcommittee. Thank you for the
    opportunity to testify today.
        My name is Steve Ingracia, and I am Deputy Director of
    Technology and Strategic Planning for the Nebraska Department
    of Transportation.
        Our agency's 2,100 employees serve the state of Nebraska by
    operating and maintaining nearly 10,000 miles of roadway and
    3,500 bridges.
        In Nebraska, we have carved out an approach to
    transportation policy that is practical, forward leaning, and
    rooted in fiscal responsibility. Through the leadership of
    Governor Pete Ricketts and then State Senator Fischer, Nebraska
    passed the Transportation Innovation Act and the Build Nebraska
    Act, which gave NDOT the resources to care for and improve
    transportation in Nebraska.
        Technological innovation is happening at NDOT as well as at
    other DOTs around the country and I'm pleased that the
    Committee has asked us how Congress can support the states as
    we know that shifts in technology will certainly alter the
    transportation industry in significant ways over the next 20
    years.
        We're always looking for ways to incorporate technology
    into what we build. The Advanced Transportation and Congestion
    Management Technologies Deployment Federal Grant just awarded
    to NDOT, in partnership with the Wyoming and Utah DOTs, will
    advance technologies that improve mobility and safety across
    the multistate I-80 corridor. This project will build upon
    Wyoming's Connect Vehicle Pilot Program to increase the flow of
    information to freight haulers and will ultimately improve
    safety along I-80.
        We are also incorporating technology into the operational
    side of our business. Systems, like the Maintenance Decision
    Support System and Automatic Vehicle Location, have been
    installed on all 633 of our snowplows, and they allow us to
    make database choices on our application rates and to better
    track quantities of materials used.
        We have taken this one step further by installing cameras
    on the front of our trucks to provide real-time snapshots of
    road conditions to the public through the web, which was
    immediately popular with the traveling public.
        NDOT's implementation of MDSS, along with our public-facing
    cloud tracker site, was recently recognized by AASHTO with
    regional top monitors as a best use of technology and
    innovation.
        NDOT is also active in discussions regarding policy.
    Nebraska lawmakers passed a law in 2018 that opened Nebraska's
    roadways to autonomous vehicles and as a result, the need for
    national AV standards have been at the forefront of our minds.
        I'd encourage continued conversations on best practices for
    standardization and design, maintenance, and operations of the
    roadway. The way a highway appears to an AV is very important
    and clear and concise nationwide standards would go a long way
    to support the development of AVs in the U.S.
        I believe that the path to national standards begins with
    groups of states agreeing amongst themselves to standards on
    key corridors. This multistate approach to standardization
    offers a way forward to test and validate what works and to
    gain an understanding of what needs to be developed in terms of
    national standards or regulation.
        Through a recent INFRA grant proposal, we are part of such
    a multistate coalition. Nebraska's part of a 12-state
    consortium that submitted an INFRA proposal for the Safe
    Acceleration of Automated Freight Infrastructure Readiness
    Project in March of 2019.
        Through this proposal, covering over 3,400 miles of
    interstate highway, including I-80, coast to coast, these
    states would develop and agree to comply with standards for
    striping, work zone design, and data exchange to support
    highway automation readiness.
        This would effectively create a corridor for autonomous and
    connected freight movement across the Continental U.S. while
    also demonstrating the ability of states to collaborate and
    develop, design, operational, and data exchange standards that
    can ultimately become the de facto national standard.
        Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member Duckworth, and members of
    the Subcommittee, I joined NDOT to help our state move forward
    with technology. In the transportation field, I believe we're
    at an inflection point with multiple technologies advancing
    quickly and simultaneously.
        It is only through partnership between the Federal
    Government and the states that we will be able to keep pace
    with these changes and I thank you for your willingness to
    consider the needs of the states.
        I appreciate the invitation to join you today and I look
    forward to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Ingracia follows:]

     Prepared Statement of Steve Ingracia, PE, Deputy Director, Technology
         and Strategic Planning, Nebraska Department of Transportation
        Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member Duckworth and members of the
    Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
        My name is Steve Ingracia and I am the Deputy Director of
    Technology and Strategic Planning at the Nebraska Department of
    Transportation (NDOT). Our agency's 2,100 employees serve the state of
    Nebraska by operating and maintaining nearly 10,000 miles of roads and
    3,500 bridges.
        In Nebraska, we've carved out an approach to transportation policy
    that is practical, forward-leaning, and rooted in fiscal
    responsibility. Through the leadership of Governor Pete Ricketts and
    then State Senator Fischer, Nebraska passed the Transportation
    Innovation Act and the Build Nebraska Act which gave NDOT the resources
    to care for and improve transportation in Nebraska.
        Technological innovation is happening at NDOT and nationwide across
    all DOTs, and I am pleased the Committee has asked us how Congress can
    support states, as shifts in technology will certainly alter the
    transportation industry in significant ways over the next 20 years.
        We are continually looking for ways to incorporate technology into
    what we build. The Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management
    Technologies Deployment(ATCMTD) Federal grant just awarded to NDOT, in
    partnership with the Wyoming and Utah DOTs, will advance technologies
    that improve mobility and safety across the multi-state I80 corridor.
    This project will build upon Wyoming's successful connected vehicle
    pilot program to increase the flow of information to freight haulers
    and will ultimately improve safety along I-80.
        We are also incorporating technology into the operational side of
    our business--systems like the Maintenance Decision Support System
    (MDSS) and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) have been installed on all
    633 of our snowplows to allow us to make data-based choices on
    application rates and to better track quantities of materials used. We
    have taken this one step further by installing cameras in the front of
    our trucks to provide realtime snapshots of road conditions to the
    public through the web, which was immediately popular with the
    traveling public. NDOT's implementation of MDSS, along with our public
    facing Plow Tracker site, was recently recognized by AASHTO with
    regional top honors as a Best Use of Technology and Innovation.
        NDOT is also active in discussions regarding policy. Nebraska
    lawmakers passed a law in 2018 that opened Nebraska's roadways to
    Autonomous Vehicles (AV), and as a result the need for national AV
    standards has been at the forefront of our minds. I'd encourage
    continued conversations on best practices for standardization in
    design, maintenance, and operations of the roadway. The way a highway
    appears to an AV is very important, and a clear and concise nationwide
    standard would go a long way to support the development of AVs in the
    US.
        I believe that the path to a national standard begins with groups
    of states agreeing amongst themselves to standards on key corridors.
    This multi-state approach to standardization offers a way forward to
    test and validate what works, and to gain an understanding of what
    needs to be developed in terms of national standards or regulation.
        Through a recent INFRA grant proposal, we are part of such a multi-
    state coalition. Nebraska is part of a 12-state consortium that
    submitted an INFRA proposal for the Safe Acceleration of Automated
    Freight Infrastructure Readiness project in March of 2019. Through this
    proposal, covering over 3,400 miles of interstate highway including I-
    80 coast-to-coast, these states would develop, and agree to comply
    with, standards for striping, work zone design, and data exchange to
    support highway automation readiness.
        This would effectively create a corridor for autonomous and
    connected freight movement across the continental US, while also
    demonstrating the ability of states to collaborate and develop design,
    operational, and data exchange standards that could ultimately become
    the de facto national standards.
        Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member Duckworth, and members of the
    Subcommittee, I joined NDOT to help our state move forward with
    technology. In the transportation field, I believe we are at an
    inflection point, with multiple technologies advancing quickly and
    simultaneously. It is only through partnership between the Federal
    government and the states that we will be able to keep pace with these
    changes, and I thank you for your willingness to consider the
    technology needs of states. I appreciate the invitation to join you
    today, and I look forward to your questions.

        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Steve.
        Next, we have Mr. Shailen Bhatt, who is the CEO of the
    Intelligent Transportation Society of America.
        Welcome, sir.

                STATEMENT OF SHAILEN P. BHATT, PRESIDENT

    AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SOCIETY
                               OF AMERICA

        Mr. Bhatt. Thank you. Good afternoon, Chairman Fischer,
    Ranking Member Duckworth, and members of the Committee.
        My name is Shailen Bhatt, and I am the President and CEO of
    the Intelligent Transportation Society of America.
        Our members include automakers and technology companies,
    public sector agencies, such as state and city departments of
    transportation, transit agencies, and metropolitan planning
    organizations, along with research institutions.
        It's an honor to be here today. Throughout my career, I've
    been appointed by three Governors and one president to be a
    leader in transportation. I've always said that departments of
    transportation exist to save lives and make people's lives
    better, which is why I feel so strongly that the next
    transportation reauthorization must reflect the incredible
    benefits technology can deliver to improve the safety and
    efficiency of our system.
        When I began as the Executive Director of the Colorado
    Department of Transportation in 2014, 484 people lost their
    lives on our roadways. When I left in 2017, there were 715
    fatalities and the vast majority of that increase were among
    the most vulnerable users of the system, bicyclists,
    pedestrians, motorcyclists.
        Just last week, NHTSA estimated that while the overall
    number of roadway deaths was generally unchanged in 2018, we
    saw a 10 percent increase in cyclist fatalities from the prior
    year.
        So clearly, there is an epidemic of fatalities on our
    roadways and we believe that technology is the best tool in our
    toolbox to reduce this epidemic.
        Now the first tool I want to talk about are connected
    vehicle technologies, known as V2X or Vehicle to Everything.
    These are technologies that allow vehicles to communicate with
    other vehicles, with the infrastructure, and, most importantly,
    with users of the system, including pedestrian, cyclists, and
    motorcyclists.
        Last year, there were two million crashes on U.S. roadways.
    About 30 percent of those were due to impaired driving. NHTSA
    estimates that V2X can address 80 percent of unimpaired
    crashes, which means that more than 1.2 million crashes could
    have been eliminated or mitigated through connected vehicle
    communications.
        V2X technologies are deployed in dozens of cities in the
    majority of states and require use of the 5.9 gigahertz safety
    spectrums to communicate, this band that has been designated
    for transportation safety-critical communications.
        Preserving this spectrum for these life-saving technologies
    is the top priority for ITS America and our members.
        Investment in technology in the next reauthorization can
    also help speed the movement of freight, whether it's at the
    ports where many of these goods come into the United States, or
    in the vast multimodal network that moves them across the
    country.
        As an example, Wyoming DOT is using connected vehicle
    technology to provide truck drivers with a wide range of
    information, from parking options so they can make the most
    efficient choice about where to safely stop for the night to
    imminent collision warning because inclement weather has closed
    the interstate, and they can share with neighboring states,
    like Nebraska and Colorado.
        Cities, like Las Vegas, are using big data and predictive
    analytics to improve response times to crashes on I-15. The
    Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada uses big
    data and predictive analytics to determine where crashes are
    likely to occur and prepositions emergency equipment.
        This has led to a 12-minute reduction in response time and
    a 17 percent reduction in secondary crashes on I-15. Getting
    someone to a doctor within an hour of a crash significantly
    increases survival chances. It's known as the golden hour. So a
    12-minute reduction is massive.
        V2X is a critical component of operating our system more
    safely, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that
    cybersecurity safeguards must also be part of the next
    reauthorization bill.
        As our transportation systems become more connected, we
    must ensure states and cities have the necessary tools to fight
    against threats from bad actors.
        Finally, we hear a lot these days about the transformation
    of transportation. Nowhere is that more evident than with the
    Mobility on Demand Initiatives cropping up across the country.
        Last year, I spoke at the ITS Heartland Meeting in Lincoln,
    Nebraska, and one of the things I talked about there was
    deployment of autonomous shuttles in Lincoln to provide micro-
    transit first and last mile solutions.
        From Lincoln to Los Angeles, the public and private
    sectors, along with researchers, are working together using
    technology to develop solutions that allow people to move
    seamlessly from place to place, whether that means finding a
    way to use one form of payment for multiple modes or ensuring
    that people with disabilities and older adults have complete
    access to the system.
        The next reauthorization holds the key to unlocking the
    21st Century of transportation in this country for mobility and
    infrastructure improvements to eliminating the epidemic of
    roadway fatalities that claims a hundred lives on our roads
    every day.
        Thank you again for the opportunity to be here. I look
    forward to any questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Bhatt follows:]

     Prepared Statement of Shailen P. Bhatt, President and Chief Executive
             Officer, Intelligent Transportation Society of America
    Introduction
        Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member Duckworth, and Members of the
    Committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide the Intelligent
    Transportation Society of America's (ITS America) perspective on
    ``Examining Technological Innovations in Transportation.''
        I am pleased to be joined on this panel with Nebraska Department of
    Transportation Deputy Director of Technology and Strategic Planning
    Steve Ingracia.
        My name is Shailen P. Bhatt, and I am the President and CEO of ITS
    America. Before joining ITS America in January 2018, I served as
    Executive Director for the Colorado Department of Transportation
    (CDOT). In that role, I oversaw the launch of the RoadX program, which
    is focused on deploying innovative technology solutions--including
    connected vehicles--and teaming with the private sector to shape the
    future of transportation. While at CDOT, I also served as the national
    Chair of the Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Deployment Coalition and the
    Chair of the National Operations Center of Excellence. Before CDOT, I
    served as Cabinet Secretary with the Delaware Department of
    Transportation and Deputy Executive Director of the Kentucky
    Transportation Cabinet. I also had the pleasure of serving as Associate
    Administrator at the Federal Highway Administration.
        ITS America's vision is ``A better future transformed by
    intelligent mobility--one that is safer, greener, and smarter.'' Our
    mission is to advance the research and deployment of intelligent
    transportation technologies and solutions to save lives, improve
    mobility, promote sustainability, and increase efficiency and
    productivity.
        Our focus is policy that accelerates seamless mobility technology,
    connected and automated vehicle technologies, and smart infrastructure;
    policy that breathes new life into our transportation infrastructure by
    expanding investments in technologies that support smart communities;
    and policy that encourages new models and modes of transportation,
    including micro-transit, rideshare, carshare, bikeshare, micro-
    mobility, and unmanned systems. Investments in these new modes should
    also address issues of transportation equity so everyone gains access
    to mobility and opportunity. That said, our first and foremost priority
    has been, and continues to be, safety.
        Founded as an official advisory board on road technology to the
    U.S. Department of Transportation, ITS America represents state and
    city departments of transportation, metropolitan planning
    organizations, automotive manufacturers, technology companies,
    engineering firms, automotive suppliers, insurance companies, and
    research and academic universities.\1\ Our Board Chair is Malcolm
    Dougherty, Senior Vice President and Practice Lead, Transportation,
    Michael Baker International and former Director, California Department
    of Transportation; our Vice-Chair is Jennifer Cohan, Secretary,
    Delaware Department of Transportation.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ The ITS America Board is represented by the following
    companies: AAA, AECOM, Arizona Department of Transportation, California
    Department of Transportation, California PATH University of California
    Berkeley, Conduent, Central Ohio Transit Authority, Crown Castle,
    Cubic, Delaware Department of Transportation, District of Columbia
    Department of Transportation, Econolite, Ford Motor Company, General
    Motors, Gridsmart, HELP, Inc., HNTB, Iteris, Kapsch TraffiCom North
    America, MCity, Michael Baker International, Michigan Department of
    Transportation San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation
    Commission, National Renewable Energy Lab, New York City Department of
    Transportation, Panasonic North America, Pennsylvania Department of
    Transportation, Qualcomm, Southwest Research Institute, State Farm
    Insurance, Toyota, Texas Transportation Institute, Utah Department of
    Transportation, Washington State Department of Transportation.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Over the years since the Fixing America's Surface Transportation
    (FAST) Act was signed into law, automated and connected vehicle
    technologies have advanced, the collection and use of big data has
    become an increasingly valuable tool for decision makers,
    electrification of vehicles of every type from human scale to large-
    scale continues, and Mobility on Demand services are transforming how
    we get around. These technologies allow additional freedom of movement
    for those who have limited mobility access, such as people with
    disabilities, older adults, and those living in transit deserts.
    Technology advancements will also help begin to reduce the epidemic of
    fatalities on our roadways.
        For these reasons, ITS America supports a FAST Act reauthorization
    that recognizes the added value of integrating technology into
    transportation infrastructure and services and provides funding for the
    rapid deployment of intelligent transportation technologies quickly and
    uniformly to transportation agencies and providers across the entire
    country.
    Moving People, Data, and Freight
        Given the title and focus of this hearing is ``Examining
    Technological Innovations in Transportation,'' and with Congress
    increasingly focused on the reauthorization of the FAST Act, my written
    testimony encompasses ITS America's FAST Act Reauthorization Platform:
    Moving People, Data, and Freight: Safer. Greener. Smarter, which ITS
    America released earlier today. Moving People, Data, and Freight
    bridges new and existing infrastructure technologies and new modes of
    mobility that we see across the country with the utmost importance of
    investments to bring our infrastructure to a state of good repair and
    integrate research, development, and deployment of technology to
    maximize efficiencies and safety and secure the United States' global
    leadership in the development and deployment of advanced transportation
    technologies.
    Increase Investment in Research and Deployment of Intelligent
            Transportation Technologies
        Intelligent transportation technologies advance transportation
    safety and mobility, reduce congestion, improve air quality, and
    enhance American productivity by integrating advanced technologies into
    transportation infrastructure, operations, and vehicles. Only with
    investment certainty will the Nation finally see and benefit from the
    research and the large-scale transformational deployments of
    intelligent transportation technologies that will define the way
    people, goods, services, and information move in the 21st century--and
    most importantly, finally help begin to reduce the epidemic of
    fatalities on our roadways.
        Moving People, Data, and Freight investment policy supports the
    solvency of the Highway Trust Fund; the transition to a long-term and
    sustainable revenue source for transportation; and a national Vehicle
    Miles Traveled (VMT) pilot. In connection with a national VMT pilot,
    the platform recommends including large freight shippers as
    participants and examines whether fleet telematics can be used as a
    method of data collection.
        The platform supports increased funding for research, development,
    and demonstration of intelligent transportation systems technology;
    maintaining Federal programs that allow state, metropolitan areas, and
    city congestion pricing strategies; and increased funding for
    Intelligent Transportation Systems programs to streamline the movement
    of goods beginning at ports and through the multimodal supply chain
    including freight intelligent transportation systems and digital
    infrastructure systems.
        ITS America strongly supports the Advanced Transportation and
    Congestion Management Technologies Deployment (ATCMTD) program. The
    platform supports increasing funding and Federal share to 80 percent.
    It recommends increasing the Federal share to 100 percent for safety
    critical connected vehicle technologies including Vehicle-to-Vehicle
    (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), and Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P)
    under ATCMTD. The association also supports policy that makes V2P
    technologies an eligible activity under ATCMTD and recommends that the
    FAST Act reauthorization authorize and dedicate separate funding for
    ATCMTD. Under the FAST Act, the ATCMTD program has been funded through
    a set-aside from the Highway Research and Development, Technology and
    Innovation Deployment, and Intelligent Transportation System Research
    programs and has resulted in a reduction of transportation research and
    development that has historically propelled United States leadership in
    areas such as connected and automated vehicle development as well as
    the emerging area of artificial intelligence in mobility management.
    Safeguard Critical Transportation Infrastructure from Cybersecurity
            Threats
        As vehicles and infrastructure become more connected, our Nation's
    transportation system faces increasing cybersecurity risks. Given the
    ability to cause loss of life and inflict significant economic damage
    in a highly visible manner, cybersecurity attacks directed at those
    producing or operating technologies travelling over or connected to
    U.S. roadways will intensify. ITS America supports policy that would
    provide states and localities funding and technical assistance under
    federal-aid highway programs, Federal public transportation programs,
    and ATCMTD to safeguard critical transportation systems that are more
    reliant than ever on connectivity to communicate and exchange data from
    cybersecurity threats.
    Prioritize the 5.9 GHz Spectrum for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) Public
            Safety Transportation Communications and Grow Investments in
            Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) and Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P)
            Technologies
        The U.S. Department of Transportation is working with industry,
    safety, and public sector stakeholders to develop and evaluate
    cooperative technologies, equipment, and applications known as
    Connected Vehicle (CV) technologies that operate in the 5.9 GHz band,
    inclusive of V2V, V2I, and V2P--collectively referred to as Vehicle-to-
    Everything (V2X). This includes all V2X technologies--Dedicated Short
    Range Communications (DSRC) as well as Cellular vehicle-to-everything
    (C-V2X)--because the band can be configured to enable real-time crash-
    avoidance alerts and warnings--offering a significant opportunity to
    achieve a transformation in transportation safety.
        Cable companies and their supporters are seeking additional
    spectrum for enhanced WiFi experiences and are aggressively pressuring
    the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to force public safety
    transportation communications operating in the 5.9 GHz band to share
    that spectrum with unlicensed consumer broadband devices.
        Speed matters when safety information is involved. Sharing the band
    could compromise the speed and put lives at risk. What if a driver
    knew, in fractions of a second, that an airbag deployed in a car in
    front of them? Alternatively, that the car in front, around the next
    curve, was sliding on black ice? Or a person is walking just around the
    next corner? Thanks to V2X, that driver would react--and avoid a crash.
    Deploying V2X that allow cars, trucks, bicycles, motorcycles,
    streetlights and other infrastructure to talk to each other will ensure
    more people travel safely. Safety is the top priority of the Nation's
    transportation system.
        Moving People, Data, and Freight supports policy that makes clear
    the 5.9 GHz band is prioritized for existing, new, and developing
    vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies that send hazard alerts to
    infrastructure, motorists, pedestrians, and other transportation system
    users and hold the promise to enhance automated driving systems. The
    platform supports a policy that ensures all three phases of testing for
    the 5.9 GHz band are complete before the FCC rules on whether the
    spectrum can be shared between V2X operations and unlicensed devices
    like WiFi.
        V2I communications, which involves the exchange of safety and
    operational data between vehicles and elements of the transportation
    infrastructure, offer a wide range of safety benefits. V2I provides
    vehicles and drivers information about infrastructure operations--
    weather and pavement conditions, how signals are directing traffic, and
    even the location of potential hazards at intersections and other
    critical road safety hotspots. V2I applications include red light
    violation warnings, reduced speed zone warnings, curve speed warnings,
    and spot weather impact warnings. V2I soon will support other
    applications that will disseminate the condition of the infrastructure,
    such as bridge integrity, and may even collect vehicle data that
    describes pavement condition. According to the National Highway Traffic
    Safety Administration (NHTSA), V2I technology helps drivers safely
    negotiate intersections and could help prevent 41 to 55 percent of
    intersection crashes. Another connected vehicle safety application that
    helps drivers with left turns at intersections could help prevent 36 to
    62 percent of left-turn crashes. In addition to the lives saved, just
    these two applications alone could prevent up to 592,000 crashes and
    270,000 injuries each year.
        Fatalities in crashes involving at least one large truck increased
    by an estimated three percent in 2018, according to NHTSA's preliminary
    statistics. As part of the USDOT's Connected Vehicle Pilot Program,
    Wyoming is demonstrating what rural states can do to benefit travelers.
    Wyoming is deploying CV technology along the 402 miles of I-80 where
    winter wind speeds and gusts result in trucks blowing over and often
    lead to road closures. The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT)
    CV pilot focuses on commercial vehicle operators by developing
    applications to support advisories including roadside alerts, parking
    notifications and dynamic travel guidance. WYDOT is equipping 400
    vehicles, a combination of fleet vehicles and commercial trucks with
    on-board units (OBUs). Of the 400 vehicles, at least 150 would be heavy
    trucks that are expected to be regular users of I-80. In addition, of
    the 400 equipped-vehicles, 100 WYDOT fleet vehicles, snowplows, and
    highway patrol vehicles will be equipped with OBUs and mobile weather
    sensors.
        The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada recently
    became the first in the world to put roadway information into a digital
    format. As connected vehicles drive over the actual roadway, they can
    pick up differences between the ``digital'' road and the actual road.
    This could eliminate the need for agencies to manually examine roadways
    for striping or automatically report potholes instead of waiting for
    enough drivers to incur tire damage before fixing them. These vehicles
    will also give an up-to-the-minute snapshot of the system--how it is
    performing, are there any incidents, and live weather conditions.
        Moving People, Data, and Freight recommends increasing the Federal
    match to 100 percent for installation of V2I safety technologies. We
    also recommend expanding eligibility to include data collection and
    analysis software (including data acquisition through private sector
    partnership), maintenance and operations, fiber, integration, the costs
    associated with systems, and equipment required for V2I communications
    technology.
        Pedestrian deaths increased by an estimated 4 percent and
    ``pedalcyclist'' deaths increased by an estimated 10 percent in 2018,
    according to NHTSA's preliminary statistics. V2X will enable deployment
    of safety solutions to protect these vulnerable users of the system. By
    allowing vehicles to communicate with users through sensors or vehicle-
    to-device communication, we can significantly reduce the number of
    people killed on our roadways. V2P encompasses a broad set of road
    users--people walking, children being pushed in strollers, people using
    wheelchairs or other mobility devices, passengers embarking and
    disembarking buses and trains, and people riding bicycles and scooters.
    ITS America recommends expanding eligibility under the Advanced
    Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies Deployment
    (ATCMTD) program to include V2P technologies.
    Expand Investments in Advanced Mobility Improvements
        ITS America supports expanding eligibility under highway programs
    to include advanced mobility safety improvements including data
    infrastructure and analysis, smart mobility improvements such as smart
    truck parking, smart work zones, smart pavements, predictive analytics
    platform, and build out of electric vehicle charging stations, hydrogen
    fueling infrastructure, natural gas fueling infrastructure, and other
    alternative fuels.
        Due to the lack of truck parking availability information and safe
    and convenient truck parking spaces, tired commercial vehicle operators
    may continue to drive while searching for a place to park and rest,
    resulting in fatigue-associated crashes. Florida, Texas, Arizona, and
    California are among a growing number of states planning and deploying
    smart truck parking technologies for real-time truck parking
    availability. Smart truck parking technology uses a combination of
    inpavement space occupancy detection for the location with mixed
    vehicle type usage and microwave vehicle detection for monitoring of
    ingress/egress at the weigh stations.
        Another example of an advanced mobility improvement is data
    analytics. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
    (RTC) is using predictive analytics to improve safety and efficiency on
    freeways, including key freight corridors and major arterials by
    compiling and analyzing data to report in real-time the location of
    accidents and predict where dangerous driving conditions or congestion
    may occur. This technology enables faster validation and response to
    roadway incidents as well as a more efficient use of resources to
    proactively deploy traffic patrols and abatement efforts with the goal
    of preventing incidents.
    Plan for Transformative Transportation Technologies
        States, providers of public transportation, and Metropolitan
    Planning Organizations (MPOs) are expanding beyond traditional long-
    range scenario planning, which holds fixed certain transportation and
    land use assumptions, to consider big questions facing the
    transportation system, including whether connected and automated
    vehicles will increase the vehicle capacity of existing highway lanes;
    how automation and active transportation connections might help solve
    the first mile/last mile transit challenge; what roadway investments
    could incentivize the shift to connected and automated vehicles; how to
    make sure the entire transportation system is working together; and how
    to expedite technology safety benefits. Increased funding and
    flexibility will help planners analyze project performance across a
    range of different futures, including ensuring all modes of
    transportation work in concert and will lead to more informed project
    prioritization that maximizes the benefits of connected and automated
    technologies.
        The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), MPO for the San
    Francisco Bay Area, launched Horizon, a new effort to plan for, and
    help shape, a range of possible connected and automated vehicle
    futures. By expanding beyond traditional long-range scenario planning,
    which holds fixed certain transportation and land use assumptions,
    Horizon will help inform big questions facing the transportation
    industry, such as:

       Will connected and automated vehicles substantially increase
            the vehicle capacity of existing highway lanes? If so, does it
            make sense to add additional physical capacity today?

       How might automation help solve the first mile/last-mile
            transit challenge, reducing barriers to transit ridership? What
            type of investments are needed to get us there?

       What roadway investments could incentivize the shift to
            connected and automated vehicles and expedite short-term safety
            benefits?

        Ultimately, this effort could help planners analyze project
    performance across a range of different futures and lead to more
    informed project prioritization. Though the benefits may be
    significant, this planning effort requires substantial time and
    resources. Additional Federal planning funds and flexibility to
    experiment with innovative initiatives like Horizon could support
    transportation planners in efforts to maximize the benefits of
    connected automated technologies.
        Moving People, Data, and Freight supports additional planning funds
    to help regions and states better address complexities around
    transformative transportation technologies and climate change in the
    context of an integrated multimodal transportation system. ITS America
    also supports additional planning funds and flexibility to the planning
    process to prepare for a range of possible connected and automated
    vehicle future scenarios.
    Deploy Broadband to Support Intelligent Transportation Technologies
        Telecommunication technologies, such as broadband, are essential to
    the transport of people, data, and freight. Assisting states and
    localities with recovering costs associated with conduit installation,
    maintenance of conduit, and conduit inventory is critical to increasing
    broadband installation, especially in rural areas and economically
    disadvantaged urban areas. Combining broadband conduit installation
    with highway and road construction will result in decreased frequency
    of construction on highways and roads, reduce broadband installation
    costs, increase access to and reliability of broadband networks,
    increase public and economic benefits, and decrease the time needed to
    deploy fiber.
        Moving People, Data, and Freight supports a new authorization that
    supports smart highways and streets with broadband fiber optic cable to
    make roads safer by establishing new Federal funding to assist states
    and localities to coordinate statewide telecommunication and broadband
    plans and state and local transportation and land use plans, including
    strategies to minimize repeated excavations that involve the
    installation of broadband infrastructure in a right-of-way, among other
    activities that promote broadband conduit installation.
    Increase Buildout of Alternative Fuel Vehicle Infrastructure to Support
            a Future of Zero Emission Vehicles
        Alternative Fuel Vehicles are shaping the future of mobility, and
    the United States is poised to lead a global transition to zero
    emission vehicles (ZEV). Nevertheless, U.S. government analysis
    suggests that additional ZEV infrastructure investments will be
    required to satisfy the future of transportation. ZEV sales continue to
    increase year-over-year; however, these new mobility options will need
    21st century infrastructure to continue to spur consumer adoption and
    address consumers' ``range anxiety''. U.S. government analysis suggests
    that current and projected deployments represent only a fraction of the
    estimated demand.
        Moving People, Data, and Freight supports a new grant program to
    support state and local governments' efforts with infrastructure
    providers to invest in electric vehicle charging and hydrogen fueling
    infrastructure along designated alternative fuel corridors. ITS America
    also supports increasing Federal funding under the Surface
    Transportation Block (STBG) Grant program and Congestion Mitigation and
    Air Quality (CMAQ) program to rapidly build out electric vehicle
    charging stations, hydrogen refueling stations, natural gas
    infrastructure, and technologies such as inductive charging to speed
    the deployment. The platform also supports the zero-emission plug-in
    electric vehicle tax credit, an additional allocation of zero-emission
    plug-in electric vehicle tax credits reserved for medium-duty
    commercial delivery vans, and the reinstatement of a zero-emission
    consumer tax credit for the purchase of fuel cell vehicles.
    Build Transformative and Adaptive Infrastructure for Deployment of
            Intelligent Transportation Technologies to Mitigate Climate
            Change
        States, metropolitan regions, and cities will require substantial
    investment to adapt infrastructure to be resilient in a changing
    climate and responsive to a new mobility paradigm. Federally supported,
    near-term infrastructure improvements will provide the dual benefit of
    immediately mitigating carbon-emitting congestion while preparing our
    Nation for intelligent mobility and smart infrastructure.
        ITS America recommends establishing a new flexible program to make
    transportation networks more resilient in the face of a changing
    climate and more responsive to the technology-fueled transformation in
    how people and goods move. The program should be highly flexible,
    modeneutral and include formula and discretionary components. Eligible
    projects should include capital and operational investments that
    improve both near-term and long-term system safety and performance.
    Examples include programs to support deployment of automated vehicles;
    V2X communications technologies; priced managed lanes; transportation
    demand management programs; strategic micro-transit investments;
    advanced parking freight delivery and incident management systems;
    alternative fuel charging infrastructure and other advanced
    technologies to support a clean transportation system; and climate
    mitigation/resiliency improvements. Moving People, Data, and Freight
    supports policy to make eligible funding for renewable energy projects
    in the Interstate rights-of-way for transportation use by states and
    localities for transportation related purposes.
    Establish a Mobility on Demand (MOD) Program for the New World of
            Mobility
        In the 21st century, mobility is less about moving vehicles and
    more about moving people, data and freight. Long-existing silos among
    cities, states, counties, road and transit agencies are disappearing;
    and private mobility service providers barely existed a decade ago.
    More choices exist now, but for people to fully realize the benefits of
    this new world of mobility, it must be easier to choose which option
    best meets their needs. This also means services that are accessible
    for every traveler and in all communities and neighborhoods.
        In cities, Mobility on Demand (MOD) offers convenient, affordable,
    and, in the case of bikeshare, rideshare or micromobility services,
    more sustainable alternatives to driving within congested environments.
    For suburban areas, MOD offers first mile/last mile accessibility to
    transit, as well as more dynamic on-demand services to get around town.
    While often seen as an urban/metro transportation solution, MOD
    deployed in rural areas also provides first mile/last mile (though more
    like first/last 50 miles) connections to transit, intercity bus and
    rail transport, and essential air service airports. Rideshare and ride
    sourcing is providing support for seniors to access social and health
    services. Micromobility services offer options to travel in town. MOD
    includes bikeshare and scooter share deployments on college campuses.
    New and improved MOD transit and paratransit services also can benefit
    rural communities.
        The framework for aggregating and managing supply and demand
    depends on connected data rather than on a particular technology. MOD
    is powered by technology and mobility services that currently and will
    include:

       Data systems and data analytics platforms, specifically open
            data platforms, open source technologies, and data sharing
            agreements that allow public and controlled access to mobility
            data to plan real-time operations and longer-term planning;

       Asset management systems (parking, curb, freight delivery),
            specifically to provide opportunity for mapping assets to
            develop more comprehensive use management strategies and value
            pricing systems (e.g., assessing a fee for curb-side passenger
            drop off, or use of designated delivery or drop-off zone or
            conversely a fee for not using provided zones);

       Security/safety systems: this can be physical technologies--
            like locking systems for bikeshares where bikes must be secured
            at the end of a trip--or cybersecurity systems. With the
            potential introduction of automated/autonomous vehicles into
            MOD services, like rideshare, it will be increasingly important
            to have systems that monitor performance and track/mitigate any
            security breaches. It also may be increasingly important to
            have systems that confirm that the rider is the intended
            person, and also potentially (in the case of AVs, per say)
            monitor that riders are safe throughout their trip.

       Geospatial Technology: defined as the collective data and
            associated technology that has a geographic or locational
            component; Technology used to acquire, manipulate, and store
            geographic information. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is
            one form of geospatial technology. GPS, remote sensing, and
            geofencing are other examples of geospatial technology.--
            Geofencing, for example, is being used in scootershare and
            bikeshare programs to monitor use and designate certain areas
            as no-go or no-park zones.

       Connected vehicle platforms and data, specifically to
            provide opportunity for real-time operations such as deployment
            of emergency service providers, rerouting of traffic during
            major events, and fleet management (public or private);

       Integrated trip planning technology platforms that power
            travel across a variety of modes, including public
            transportation, transportation network companies, car and bike
            sharing services, micro-transit providers, and even private
            vehicle mobility planning;

       Integrated booking and payment systems that power seamless
            travel across a variety of modes to include both public and
            private mobility services;

       Integrated payment systems for transportation adjacencies or
            value-pricing asset usage (e.g., tolling, congestion pricing,
            dynamic parking, curb-side pricing, motor vehicle
            administrative transactions, electric charging stations);

       Integrated payment systems that include other specialized
            and demand-response transportation (e.g., human service
            transportation, faith-based transportation, nonemergency
            medical transportation, paratransit, volunteer-based
            transportation, closed or open loop shuttle services, employee
            and campus transportation); and

       Integrated payment systems that could include multiple non-
            transit/non-mobility services (e.g., retail, incentivization,
            loyalty programs); social programs (e.g., travelers with
            disabilities, student discounts, transit benefits, social
            security, senior citizens, veteran benefits, human service
            programs); and access and authorization (e.g., student cards,
            government IDs, campus/academic cards, library access,
            community and facility access, municipal programs, age-based
            programs).

        In the future, Augmented Reality (AR) enhanced by 5G connectivity
    could make MOD and the delivery of real-time data even more useful. For
    instance, AR can be used to create interactive maps to help people
    navigate transit systems. By using the camera in a traveler's mobile
    device and superimposing digital information on what the camera is
    capturing, AR can make it easier for the user to make more informed
    decisions based on up-to-date information. Holding a mobile device on
    top of a transit map, for example, would allow users to see real-time
    movement of trains and buses near their location.
        Access to transportation means access to jobs, education, and
    healthcare, which is a major challenge for people with disabilities.
    New technologies have in the past and will continue to expand access to
    transportation. According to the U.S. Census, nearly one in five people
    in the United States have a disability. They also represent significant
    pent-up demand for transportation services. As a result, it is
    anticipated that there will be a notable increase in travel should
    fully automated vehicles succeed in expanding mobility access. The
    Policy Institute of AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired
    Persons) estimates that one-third of U.S. residents do not drive.
    Recent research by Carnegie Mellon University suggests that if non-
    drivers, such as older adults and people with disabilities, were to
    gain access to automated vehicles, VMT could increase up to 14 percent.
    To put this in perspective, VMT growth usually hovers around one
    percent annually. Nearly everyone experiences disability at one time or
    another, often the result of injury, sickness, or aging. Furthermore,
    access to transportation may also help older adults remain in their
    homes to age in place, and independence in mobility not only often
    improves the lives of those who achieve it but also reduces associated
    burdens and stress on care-giving family members.
        MOD may also promise expansion of accessible transportation.
    Transit agencies are contracting with shared ride and ride hailing
    companies to provide paratransit services. As a result, ridehailing
    services become less like taxi services and more like paratransit.
    Under these contracts, ride-hailing services must provide accessible
    vehicles and driver assistance.
        ITS America has worked with the auto industry, tech companies,
    groups representing people with disabilities, and the Departments of
    Transportation, Labor and Health and Human Services to devise roadmap
    for accessibility in new automated and connected vehicle systems.
        Moving People, Data, and Freight supports establishing a MOD
    program that encourages flexibility within Federal transportation
    programs to meet changing mobility needs, including partnerships with
    companies offering shared-use trips (car, bicycle, new mobility modes),
    data management, and other technology companies for first mile/last
    mile services and improved freight delivery, the integration of
    mobility services and technologies, and new fare and integrated payment
    technologies. ITS America supports a MOD program that establishes a
    data sharing framework that provides standardization for the transfer
    of data among transportation operators and providers to foster the
    efficient use of capacity, enhance management of new modes of mobility,
    and promote the creation of innovative planning tools.
    Strengthen the University Transportation Centers Program
        Moving People, Data, and Freight supports reforms in the University
    Transportation Centers program that directs grants to universities with
    research and technical expertise; encourages leading edge as well as
    near-term practical applied research (reduce the time period from
    research concept to completion); encourages broader inclusion of ITS-
    related curriculum, degrees, and professional development programs for
    current and future workforce; and increases opportunities for private
    sector funding contributions.
    Conclusion
        Just as transportation infrastructure was critical to the
    development of our economy in the 20th century, maintenance of existing
    infrastructure and deployment of intelligent mobility and smart
    infrastructure will be critical for our global competitiveness in this
    century. Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and wireless
    communications will define the way people, goods, services, and
    information move in the 21st century.
        New forms of mobility are being deployed even as others are being
    developed. When cars were invented a century ago, Departments of Roads
    were created to build infrastructure for this new form of
    transportation. Those agencies are now Departments of Transportation,
    having grown to include many modes of transportation. Now those same
    agencies are evolving again to provide seamless multimodal mobility and
    to build smart infrastructure that will support the technology-driven
    21st-century economy, which is all about moving, people, data, and
    freight.
        Changes are happening today that will fundamentally affect how
    people interact with transportation in the months and years ahead. ITS
    America is helping cities, states, the private sector, and researchers
    as we work toward our vision of a better future transformed by
    intelligent mobility--one that is safer, greener, and smarter.
        Our members come to one table--ITS America--to shape the next
    generation of transportation and infrastructure driven by intelligent
    transportation technologies.
        Thank you again for the opportunity to testify today, and I am
    happy to answer any questions you may have.
                                      ***
        ITS America acknowledges the contributions of ITS America Smart
    Infrastructure Task Force FAST Act Reauthorization co-chairs John
    Barton, National DOT Market Sector and Senior Vice President, HNTB, and
    Tina Quigley, Chief Executive Officer, Regional Transportation
    Commission of Southern Nevada, and more than 40 members of the task
    force representing the strength of ITS America: states, cities,
    metropolitan planning organizations, automakers, technology companies,
    research universities, and engineering, construction, and technical
    services firms. ITS America acknowledges the assistance of Boyagian
    Consulting.

    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Senator Fischer. Thank you very much.
        Our next panelist is Mr. Patrick Duffy, who is President of
    Blockchain in Transport Alliance.
        Welcome.

                STATEMENT OF PATRICK DUFFY, PRESIDENT,
                 BLOCKCHAIN IN TRANSPORTATION ALLIANCE

        Mr. Duffy. Thank you. Chairwoman Fischer, Ranking Member
    Duckworth, and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for
    holding this timely hearing.
        I'm grateful for the opportunity to submit my testimony to
    the Committee's hearing on Examining Technological Innovations
    in Transportation and for allowing for me to appear here on
    Capitol Hill.
        I look forward to the opportunity to share my thoughts
    regarding the massive opportunities associated to the
    digitization of analog and legacy processes across the supply
    chain of the transportation sectors, including blockchain's
    impactful role.
        Numerous emerging technologies are transforming the surface
    transportation realities for operators and users of over-the-
    road trucking and rail industries in the United States, moving
    from the antiquated analog systems through the exploration of
    technologies, including artificial intelligence, blockchain and
    machine learning, to cite a few.
        This process of digitizing the data associated with supply
    chains that leverage the services of transport providers on the
    Nation's roads, highways, interstates, railroads, at sea and
    air routes, holds the promise of greatly improving commercial
    efficiencies but may also help produce more resilient data
    systems and impact the safety and security of our conduits of
    commerce.
        One of the biggest drivers of digitization in the freight
    industry today is the rapid deployment of blockchain technology
    to solve some of transportation's biggest headaches. Blockchain
    is the tip of the spear in the fight to digitize some of the
    antiquated systems and practices used in the transportation,
    logistics, and supply chain sectors.
        Among the major catalysts for digitization are the value-
    deriving benefits that can be realized by increasing trust
    between counterparties.
        One of the technologies that can enhance trust between
    counterparties is distributed ledger technology, often referred
    to as blockchain and sometimes as the blockchain. So what is
    blockchain? Is it a currency, a code, a server?
        In reality, blockchain is simply a type of database
    functioning as a ledger in which transactions are stored as
    blocks of data that are recorded in a protected manner. The
    introduction of new data or the modification of existing data
    can only be done with the agreement of those individuals or
    organizations on that ledger. That agreement is needed before
    previously recorded data can be changed, overwritten, or
    deleted.
        While cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a wide
    spectrum of all coins leverage blockchain technology to record
    transactions, it's important to recognize that blockchains are
    not cryptocurrencies. Blockchain is, however, an ideal
    technology for security because it is an immutable distributed
    ledger. This ledger records every transaction or change.
    Transactions cannot be obscured, hidden, or erased after the
    fact.
        So how will this technology be useful in the context of
    over-the-road transportation in the United States? Take the
    customs process. It's slow with components often reliant on the
    transfer of paper documents and the use of fax machines, a
    situation ripe for human-induced error.
        By leveraging technologies like blockchain and through the
    digitization of analog processes required to leverage
    blockchain in a meaningful way, it may be possible to mitigate
    data-driven situations before they become problems.
        For instance, consider the romaine lettuce scare in the
    United States that we experienced in 2018. Dangerous E.coli
    bacteria was introduced into the Nation's food supply. Moving
    through the supply chain that contaminated lettuce was used in
    fast food and white tablecloth restaurants and homes across the
    United States, whether in a salad or as a topping for a
    cheeseburger or a taco, the lettuce was eaten by unsuspecting
    consumers. This situation resulted in deaths, many consumers
    were sickened and financial hardships occurred.
        Even though that contaminated romaine lettuce was a small
    percentage of the total romaine lettuce in the market, all
    romaine lettuce was pulled from grocery store shelves and
    restaurant coolers.
        The dangerous bacteria infiltrated the agricultural supply
    chain and because of legacy and analog processes, the
    contaminated legacy provenance was not easily identified by
    regulators. They faced an arduous task to identify the
    contaminated produce.
        Because that data could not be quickly determined,
    regulators were left with no other choice but to remove the
    product from U.S. commerce.
        If the lettuce had been registered on a blockchain, track
    and trace would have been relatively easy. Many of those
    sickened might not have been and time and costs of the
    investigation would have been less. That's the power of
    blockchain.
        Digital breadcrumbs indicating the who, what, when, and
    where and why of a supply chain enhanced through the use of
    technologies, including blockchain, may provide an opportunity
    to catch challenges before they become a crisis.
        It's my honor and privilege to be here today representing
    the Blockchain in Transportation Alliance, most commonly
    referred to as BITA. Our mission is to help educate
    stakeholders advocate for the adoption of innovative
    technologies and through collaboration among member companies
    and organizations and their talented staff members to establish
    standards around the data components that comprise the world's
    supply chain and transportation technologies.
        These companies come together generating standards that
    will drive innovation in the digitization space for decades to
    come. BITA has moved faster than anyone expected to release its
    first standards in February and has three more in the pipeline
    that we expect to unveil later this summer.
        In normal time, many of these companies working to develop
    these standards work in fierce commercial competition, but they
    come together in agreement in our rooms.
        Using blockchain in the near future, we'll have answers to
    questions, such as was a vaccine kept at a correct temperature?
    When were aircraft parts damaged in transit? Where were these
    salmon caught, and what was their path to consumer? These are
    problems that the industries struggle to solve with every day
    and consumers are asking for answers.
        With blockchain digitization, they have an immutable ledger
    that can hold up in court. In short, we'll be able to state
    with certainty that a certain thing has happened at a certain
    time and place.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Duffy follows:]

                Prepared Statement of Patrick Duffy, President,
                        Blockchain in Transport Alliance
        Chairman Fischer, Ranking Member Duckworth, and members of this
    Subcommittee, thank you for holding this timely hearing.
        I'm grateful for the opportunity to submit written testimony for
    the Committee's hearing on ``Examining Technological Innovations in
    Transportation,'' and for allowing me to appear today on Capitol Hill.
        I look forward to the opportunity to share my thoughts regarding
    the massive opportunities associated to the digitization of analog and
    legacy processes across the supply chain and transportation sectors,
    including blockchain's impactful role.
        Numerous emerging technologies are transforming the surface
    transportation realities for operators and users of over-the-road
    trucking and rail industries in the United States--moving from
    antiquated analog systems through the exploration of technologies,
    including artificial intelligence, blockchain and machine learning, to
    cite a few.
        This process of digitizing the data associated with supply chains
    that leverage the services of transport providers on the Nation's
    roads, highways, interstates, railways and sea and air routes holds the
    promise of greatly improving commercial efficiencies, but may also help
    produce more resilient data systems that impact the safety and security
    of our conduits of commerce.
        One of the biggest drivers of digitization in the freight industry
    today is the rapid deployment of blockchain technology to solve some of
    transportation's biggest headaches. Blockchain is the tip of the spear
    in the fight to digitize some of the most antiquated systems and
    practices used in the transportation/logistics/supply chain sectors.
        Among the major catalysts for digitization are the value-driving
    benefits that can be realized by increasing trust between
    counterparties.
        One of the technologies that can enhance trust between
    counterparties is distributed ledger technology, often referred to as
    ``blockchain'' and sometimes as ``the Blockchain.''
        So what is blockchain? Is it a currency? A code? A server? In
    reality, blockchain is simply a type of database, functioning as a
    ledger in which transactions are stored as blocks of data that are
    recorded in a protected manner. The introduction of new data, or the
    modification of existing data can only be done with the agreement of
    those individuals or organizations on that ledger. That agreement is
    needed before previously recorded data can be changed, overwritten or
    deleted.
        While cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a wide spectrum
    of alt-coins leverage blockchain technology to record transactions, it
    is important to recognize that blockchains are not cryptocurrencies.
        Blockchain is, however, an ideal technology for security because it
    is an immutable distributed ledger. This ledger records every
    transaction or change. Transactions cannot be obscured, hidden, or
    erased after the fact.
        So how will this technology be useful within the context of over-
    the-road transportation in the United States?
        Take the customs process. It's slow, with components often reliant
    on the transference of paper documents and the use of fax machines--a
    situation ripe for human-induced error. By leveraging technologies like
    blockchain, and through the digitization of analog processes required
    to leverage blockchain in a meaningful way, it may be possible to
    mitigate data-driven situations before they become problems.
        For instance, consider the romaine lettuce scare the United States
    experienced in 2018. Dangerous e. Coli bacteria was introduced into the
    Nation's food supply. Moving through the supply chain, that
    contaminated lettuce was used in fast-food and white tablecloth
    restaurants and in homes across the United States. Whether used in a
    salad, or as a topping on cheeseburgers or tacos, the lettuce was eaten
    by unsuspecting consumers.
        This situation resulted in deaths, many consumers were sickened and
    financial hardships occurred. Even though the contaminated romaine
    lettuce was a small percentage of total romaine lettuce in the market,
    all romaine lettuce was pulled from grocery store shelves and
    restaurant coolers.
        The dangerous bacteria infiltrated the agricultural supply chain,
    and because of legacy and analog processes, the contaminated lettuce's
    provenance was not easily identified by regulators. They faced an
    arduous task to identify the contaminated produce. Because that data
    could not be quickly determined, regulators were left with no other
    choice but to remove the product from U.S. commerce.
        If the lettuce had been registered on a blockchain, track and trace
    would have been relatively easy. Many of those sickened might not have
    been. The time and cost of the investigation would have been less. That
    is the power of blockchain.
        Digital `breadcrumbs' indicating the who, what, when, where and why
    of a supply chain, enhanced through the use of technologies including
    blockchain may provide an opportunity to catch challenges before they
    become a crisis.
        The real-life example used involved romaine lettuce, but it could
    be baby formula--as recently occurred in China--or the agricultural
    inputs associated with antibiotics.
        Looking back we should consider ourselves lucky; a breakdown in an
    arcane process led to deaths and illnesses, but it could have been
    much, much worse--and the next outbreak of contaminated foods or faulty
    products may lead to serious harm for millions of U.S. citizens.
        It's my honor and privilege to be here today representing the
    Blockchain in Transport Alliance, most commonly referred to as BiTA.
        Our mission is to help educate stakeholders, advocate for the
    adoption of innovative technologies, and through collaboration among
    member companies and organizations, and their talented staff members,
    to establish standards around the data components that comprise the
    world's supply chain and transportation technologies.
        Since its inception in 2017, BITA has moved expeditiously to
    identify use cases where the standardization of data would be
    beneficial for parties involved in supply chain and transportation. And
    it's important to realize that this work is not being done in silos or
    by a group of interested ``techies.'' BiTA is comprised of hundreds of
    member companies representing more than $1 trillion in revenue
    annually. The membership base spans the spectrum from technology
    companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft and Salesforce, to some of the
    world's most important conveyors of goods like BNSF, Delta, FedEx, J.B.
    Hunt and UPS, and all types of companies and organizations that either
    leverage their services or provide ancillary products and/or services.
        These companies together are generating standards that will drive
    innovation in the digitization space for decades to come. BiTA has
    moved, faster than anyone expected, to release its first standard this
    February, and has three more in the pipeline that we expect will be
    unveiled later this summer.
        In normal times, many of these companies working on developing
    standards are fierce commercial competitors. But we've seen them put
    aside their differences and work together to improve the way we
    transport everything from bullets to baby formula. Blockchain
    technology will improve safety in the supply chain, increase
    transparency, unlock value across the commercial ecosystem, empower
    small businesses and give regulators the tools they need to make the
    best decisions.
        The essential goal of BiTA is to help guide and promote the
    creation of open source blockchain systems in the transportation
    industry. Blockchain in transport may function as a digital referee
    capable of providing high-fidelity data to enable users to make better-
    informed decisions.
        The technology is quickly moving from the experimental--being
    looked at in universities and research organizations--to being
    implemented within the technology stacks, and business processes, of
    the world's largest companies and organizations.
        So why talk about standards? Because all too often new technologies
    are delayed because of the development of multiple proprietary systems
    that are not designed to work with each other. Take Windows versus Mac,
    or Blu-Ray versus HD-DVD, or Betamax versus VHS. And how many different
    shapes and sizes of cables have we used over the years to charge our
    mobile phones or plug in our computers?
        The purpose of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance is to bring all
    freight industry stakeholders together to create a global language
    around the data components that comprise the supply chain and
    transportation technologies that power the global economy.
        Using blockchain, in the near future we will have answers to
    questions such as: Was a vaccine kept at the correct temperature? When
    were the aircraft parts damaged in transit? Where were these salmon
    caught and what was their path to the consumer?
        These are problems that the industry struggles to solve every day,
    and consumers are asking for answers. With blockchain digitization,
    they have an immutable ledger that can hold up in court.
        In short, we will be able to state with certainty that a certain
    thing happened at a certain time and a certain place.
        Thank you.

        Senator Fischer. Thank you, sir.
        Next, we have Ann Schlenker, who is the Director of the
    Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National
    Laboratory.
        Welcome.

                 STATEMENT OF ANN SCHLENKER, DIRECTOR,

                  CENTER FOR TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH,

                      ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY

        Ms. Schlenker. Thank you. Chairwoman Fischer, Ranking
    Member Duckworth, and members of the Subcommittee, thank you
    for the opportunity to appear before you today.
        It is my honor to talk to you about how the U.S. Department
    of Energy, National Laboratories, bring prosperity and security
    to all Americans by making transportation more affordable,
    efficient, accessible, and safe.
        I am Ann Schlenker, Director of the Center for
    Transportation Research at Argonne DOE's multidisciplinary
    National Laboratory near Chicago.
        I am privileged to lead a team of scientists and engineers
    working on a research portfolio that ranges from components to
    vehicles to transportation as a holistic system. My passion for
    transportation runs deep and long.
        I serve as co-chair of the Systems and Modeling for
    Accelerated Research and Transportation, or SMART, Mobility
    Consortia. The consortium is an initiative of the Vehicle
    Technologies Office within DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency
    and Renewable Energy.
        The consortia, which includes Argonne, Idaho, Lawrence
    Berkeley, National Renewable Energy, and Oak Ridge National
    Labs, studies transportation across many rapidly changing
    facets, including connected and automated vehicles, urban
    science, advanced fueling infrastructure, decision science, and
    multimodal transportation.
        The program is creating new knowledge, insights, tools, and
    technology solutions that increase mobility and energy
    productivity for individuals and businesses. Our scalable smart
    mobility projects target opportunities to greatly increase the
    efficient and affordable movement of people and goods.
        That phrase ``movement of people and goods'' is
    significant. Mobility is the foundation of how humanity
    interacts. It is fundamental to our quality of life.
    Transportation gives us access to opportunities for good food,
    good jobs, quality education, superior health care, and leisure
    moments with nature.
        Now more than ever before, we have the potential to not
    only move more but move smarter; that is, more affordably and
    cleaner and with ever more increasing choices.
        The DOE National Laboratories use integrated scalable
    models, tools, and field experiments to study the effects of
    advanced vehicle and infrastructure changes, new business
    models, transportation modes, and other factors for the
    transportation systems.
        The result is expanded understanding from the vehicle to
    the city level. We can tailor our assessments for regional
    outcomes, such as vehicle miles traveled, vehicle hours
    traveled, passenger miles traveled, energy used, cost
    effectiveness, greenhouse gas emitted, productivity gains, and
    more.
        The aging U.S. population, urbanization, shared
    transportation usage, and expectation of on-demand goods and
    services and real-time information availability drive traveler
    activities and decisions.
        Transportation researchers seek automation,
    electrification, and other mobility solutions to address these
    new realities while remaining cognizant that as a nation, we
    are not fully connected and advancements need to fit broadly.
        The range of solutions is broad and poised to impact
    efficiency and safety in dense urban areas as well as in rural
    locations. Automated vehicles equipped with sensors for
    situational awareness and connectivity help us glean
    information from other cars on the roadway for rural benefits
    of improved efficiency and reduced collisions.
        In an urban setting, we can use vehicle-to-vehicle and
    vehicle-to-infrastructure connectivity to improve safety and
    increase traffic flow with smart traffic signals and smart
    parking apps.
        Shared services and automation will provide today's
    underserved population with increased access and affordability.
        Our ability to understand the complex interactions between
    all these systems, technologies, business models, and emerging
    travel modes is paramount to achieving secure and robust smart
    mobility.
        Applying the DOE National Laboratories' computational
    horsepower, artificial intelligence, and data analytics is in a
    scenario-based framework for analyzing the potential mobility
    future. We come away knowing how to guide implementation of new
    solutions that maximize benefits while minimizing the downside.
        Research recently conducted by Argonne in the Chicago
    region demonstrates the kind of insights DOE laboratories can
    provide stakeholders to help them prepare for these new
    futures.
        Research showed that, for example, private ownership of
    highly automated vehicles, the vehicle miles traveled could
    increase by greater than 40 percent, in turn causing network
    speeds to decrease about 15 percent as a surrogate of
    congestion.
        Conversely, in a transportation network with high-sharing
    behaviors, that is, greater reliance on mass transit and ride-
    sharing services, vehicle miles traveled could be reduced by 13
    percent and energy usage reduced by over 25 percent, while
    still netting that exact same mobility to serve our population.
        This type of analysis is possible to capture the upside and
    manage any downside in mobility futures.
        Collaborations across government agencies are another
    example of key partnering. DOE and the Department of
    Transportation partner on many automated, connected, and
    efficient shared mobility projects. DOE complements DOT
    research, development, demonstration, and deployment portfolio
    by offering tools and capabilities in modeling and simulation,
    managing and analyzing data, and quantifying technology
    benefits.
        DOE also has partnered on the DOT Smart City Challenge.
    DOE's National Laboratories are a powerhouse of science,
    technology, and engineering. They are principal agents of
    execution on missions of national importance, including the
    effort to provide greater mobility in the vehicle and travelers
    within the transportation system.
        Work at the National Labs continues to make mobility more
    affordable, efficient, safe, and convenient.
        Thank you for your time. I welcome any comments you might
    have.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Schlenker follows:]

           Prepared Statement of Ann Schlenker, Director, Center for
              Transportation Research, Argonne National Laboratory
        Chairwoman Fischer, Ranking Member Duckworth, and members of the
    subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you. It is
    my honor to talk to you about how the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
    national laboratories bring prosperity and security to all Americans by
    making transportation more affordable, efficient, accessible, and safe.
        I am Ann Schlenker, director of the Center for Transportation
    Research at DOE's Argonne National Laboratory, one of America's first
    and largest multipurpose science and engineering laboratories, located
    in Lemont, Illinois, near Chicago. Prior to joining Argonne in 2009, I
    worked for Chrysler, LLC, for more than 30 years, most recently as
    Director of Advanced Vehicle Engineering and Alliances. During my
    career in industry I held a variety of executive engineering positions
    in research, regulatory development, and front-line product
    development. My passion for transportation runs deep and long.
        As director of the Argonne center, I am privileged to lead a team
    of scientists and engineers working on a research portfolio that ranges
    from components to vehicles to transportation as a holistic system. We
    are improving engine fuel efficiency, evaluating vehicles in virtual
    and experimental contexts, studying low carbon fuel potentials,
    improving and validating vehicle electrification interoperability and
    security with the Smart Grid, and studying complex transportation
    systems.
        I serve as co-chair of the Systems and Modeling for Accelerated
    Research in Transportation, or SMART, Mobility Consortium. The
    consortium is an initiative of the Vehicle Technologies Office within
    DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy. The consortium,
    which includes Argonne, Idaho, Lawrence Berkeley, National Renewable
    Energy, and Oak Ridge national labs, studies transportation across many
    rapidly changing facets, including connected and automated vehicles,
    urban science, advanced fueling infrastructure, decision science, and
    multi-modal transportation.
        The SMART Mobility Consortium is part of DOE's Energy Efficient
    Mobility Systems (EEMS) Program, which envisions an affordable,
    efficient, safe, and accessible transportation future. The program is
    conducting cutting-edge research at the vehicle, traveler, and system
    levels, creating new knowledge, insights, tools, and technology
    solutions that increase mobility and energy productivity for
    individuals and businesses. Our scalable smart mobility projects target
    opportunities to greatly increase the efficient and affordable movement
    of people and goods.
    Mobility Underpins Quality of Life
        That phrase, ``movement of people and goods,'' is significant.
    Mobility is a foundation of how humanity interacts. It is fundamental
    to our quality of life. Transportation gives us access to opportunity
    in the form of healthy food, good jobs, quality education, superior
    health care, and leisure moments with nature. Now, more than ever
    before, we have the potential to not only move more, but move smarter--
    that is, more affordably and cleanly and with ever increasing choice.
    It is natural that the DOE national laboratories, with our mission to
    accelerate the science and technology that drive U.S. prosperity and
    security, have a critical role in realizing the potential of smart
    mobility. The laboratories possess tools, teams, and expertise that
    exist nowhere else and deliver impact through use-inspired solutions
    that address the complex, long-term challenges we face.
        To understand the transformational power of smart mobility
    solutions, we need only look at previous transportation revolutions. I
    began my career working on emissions in the days of brown clouds and
    hazy skies as the Clean Air Act was being implemented. My fellow auto
    and oil industry researchers and I developed solutions that achieved a
    99 percent improvement in vehicle emissions for tangible air quality
    gains while at the same time doubling fuel economy. Research and
    development drove a similar transformation in automobile safety,
    starting with the passive solutions of seat belts and air bags and
    evolving to active safety innovations including anti-lock braking
    systems, electronic stability controls, and safety sensors and cameras.
    These active systems are standard today and are paving the path to
    further vehicle automation.
        The knowledge and technology we are creating now have the power to
    create the next transportation revolution, one of smart mobility. We
    use integrated, scalable models, tools, and field experiments to study
    the effects of advanced vehicle and infrastructure technologies, new
    business models, transportation modes and other factors on
    transportation systems--the result is expanded understanding from the
    vehicle to the city level. We can tailor our assessments of complex
    transportation mobility systems to desired regional outcomes such as
    vehicle miles traveled, vehicle hours traveled, passenger miles
    traveled, energy used, costs affected, greenhouse gases emitted,
    productivity generated, and more.
    Transportation is Changing; New Solutions Can Meet Emerging Demands
            Across All Areas
        Despite all the ways in which we can connect virtually, we are
    traveling more today, on a variety of modes, than ever before. Trips on
    what is called micromobility--scooters, bikes, e-bikes--doubled in 2018
    to 84 million trips in a single year. Transportation network companies
    such as Uber, Lyft, and Via weren't operating 10 years ago; today in
    the U.S. they account for an annual 4.2 billion trips and counting.
        The number of annual vehicle miles traveled continues to increase,
    with incremental increases in travel times due to congestion now
    totaling some 42 hours per year--that's an average of $1,300 in
    financial terms--per traveler. Transportation costs are now second only
    to housing expenses. The aging U.S. population, urbanization, and a
    shift toward shared transportation usage also drive the need for
    creative thinking and solutions to meet new mobility demands.
        All these transportation trends are borne of changes in traveler
    choice and consumer behavior. We now expect on-demand services and
    goods, as well as real-time information to guide our way of life and
    activities--witness the navigation and routing apps that allow us to
    choose the greenest, cheapest, or fastest option, or even delay or
    cancel a trip in light of real-time traffic information. Transportation
    researchers like me seek automation, electrification, and other
    mobility solutions to address these new realities while remaining
    cognizant that as a nation we are not fully connected and advancements
    need to fit broadly.
        The range of solutions that inform traveler choices and optimize
    our movement and the movement of our goods is broad and poised to
    impact efficiency and safety in dense urban areas as well as in rural
    locations. Automated vehicles equipped with sensors for situational
    awareness and connectivity help us glean information from other cars
    and the roadway for rural area benefits of improved efficiency and
    reduced collisions. In an urban setting, we can use vehicle-to-vehicle
    and vehicle-to-infrastructure connectivity to improve safety and
    increase traffic flow with smart signal intersections. Smart parking
    apps enable us to improve our energy use by reducing the amount of time
    we drive around, instead directing us to open spots with reliable
    information. Shared services and automation will provide today's
    underserved population with access and affordability.
        It is important to note that this connectivity requires the high-
    speed 5.9 gigahertz spectrum that has been reserved for vehicle-related
    safety applications. Without this spectrum, the promise of future
    mobility technology could be significantly reduced.
        Solutions that make ride hail companies more complementary to mass
    transit and other solutions that enable seamless intermodal (for
    example, between air and ground or bike and bus) transportation
    increase our efficient movement, while multimodal freight solutions do
    the same for our goods. Our ability to understand the complex
    interactions between all these systems, technologies, business models,
    and emerging travel modes is paramount to achieving secure and robust
    smart mobility.
    National Laboratories Perfectly Positioned to Lead
        DOE national labs leverage distinguishing capabilities in science,
    unique user facilities, and external collaboration networks to execute
    pioneering research into solutions that will satisfy consumer mobility
    needs in a technology-rich and on-demand service-oriented economy. We
    are applying our established expertise in advanced computer science,
    visualization, data, decision science and analysis, and systems
    engineering and integration--as well as our capabilities in artificial
    intelligence, big data, computation, and predictive analytics--to the
    tough mobility challenges the public and private sectors face.
        Applying the DOE national labs computational horsepower--some of
    the world's fastest supercomputers are located at Argonne and other
    labs--to our transportation system modeling and simulation underpins
    our smart mobility work. This capability gives us a scenario-based
    framework for analyzing potential mobility futures, allowing us to
    easily and quickly adjust various parameters. The result is greater
    insight into impacts with broad knowledge transfer and applicability.
    We come away knowing how to guide implementation of new solutions that
    maximize benefits while minimizing harms.
        Research conducted by Argonne in the Chicago region demonstrates
    the kind of insights DOE laboratories can provide stakeholders to help
    them prepare for various mobility futures. Research showed that with
    private ownership of highly automated vehicles, vehicle miles traveled
    could increase by greater than 40 percent, in turn causing network
    speeds to decrease about 15 percent; such a scenario represents
    substantial congestion. Conversely, in a transportation network with
    high sharing behaviors--that is, greater reliance on mass transit and
    ride sharing services--vehicle miles traveled could be reduced by 13
    percent and energy usage reduced by more than 25 percent while giving
    travelers the same level of mobility. This type of analysis is possible
    with strong private-public partnership relationships, data sharing, and
    strategic planning, to capture the upside and manage any downside of
    mobility futures.
        The commitment of the national laboratories to rapidly bring
    technologies and knowledge into real-world application also takes the
    form of collaborations across government agencies. For example, DOE and
    the Department of Transportation partner on many automated, connected,
    and efficient, shared mobility projects, including coordination with
    the Federal Transit Administration to understand the energy
    implications of using mobility services to enhance transit. The Federal
    Highway Administration and DOE also are conducting leveraged work on
    connected/automated vehicle systems, such as truck platooning and eco-
    driving approaches. DOE complements DOT's research, development,
    demonstration, and deployment portfolio by offering tools and
    capabilities for modeling and simulation, managing and analyzing data,
    and quantifying technology benefits. DOE also has partnered with DOT on
    the Smart City Challenge, which underscored the fact that cities,
    regardless of size, identify the same set of critical issues for their
    communities; air quality, safety, accessibility, congestion, curb
    management, parking, payment systems and multimodal transportation
    issues.
        Use-inspired, collaborative, comprehensive, and innovative--these
    terms generate enthusiasm, passion and full engagement among the many
    transportation DOE researchers who are addressing a spectrum of needs
    for future mobility. This mobility revolution also requires workforce
    development, and Argonne is spearheading the EcoCAR Mobility Challenge
    program for DOE, with a 30 year history of advanced vehicle technology
    competitions, representing 20,000 university graduates for a highly
    skilled domestic workforce.
        DOE's national laboratories and their facilities are America's
    powerhouses of science, technology, and engineering. They are principal
    agents of execution on missions of national importance, including the
    effort to provide greater mobility to the vehicles and travelers within
    the transportation system. The work of the labs continues, applying
    expertise and coordinating the myriad of private and public
    stakeholders to make mobility more affordable, efficient, safe, and
    convenient, and bring prosperity and security to all Americans.
        Thank you for your time. I welcome any questions you may have.

        Senator Fischer. Thank you, ma'am.
        Our next panelist is Brent Hutto. He's the Chief
    Relationship Officer for Truckstop.com.
        Welcome, sir.

                       STATEMENT OF BRENT HUTTO,
               CHIEF RELATIONSHIP OFFICER, TRUCKSTOP.COM

        Mr. Hutto. Thank you, Chairwoman Fischer, Ranking Member
    Duckworth, and Members of the Subcommittee.
        We appreciate the opportunity to testify at today's
    hearing. I'd also like to thank the FMCSA and Administrator
    Martinez for his great work he's done in the past couple years
    in really connecting with our industry and our partner, the
    American Trucking Association, and their CEO, Chris Spear.
        My name is Brent Hutto, and I'm the Chief Relationship
    Officer at Truckstop.com. My responsibilities include working
    with hundreds of transportation technology partners and that
    gives me a unique insight into the entire freight marketplace.
        We were founded as a company in 1995 as the very first
    online load board. Today, we are the largest web-based digital
    freight-matching marketplace in North America and the companies
    that use us represent more than a million trucks on the road
    and the brokers retain capacity for 500,000 unit loads every
    day.
        My purpose in testifying today is to provide insight into
    the emerging technology trends within the transportation
    industry and to provide a basic framework for understanding how
    digitization could ultimately challenge or evolve existing
    business models and impact our freight market and surface
    transportation infrastructures.
        I'd like to start by defining the marketplace a little bit
    for you guys. It's a very, very large market. Fifty percent of
    all the freight in the world is in North America and 70 percent
    of that freight is moved by a truck every single day.
        It is an expanding marketplace. With rising population and
    urbanization and the consumer demand for expedited delivery, it
    continues to expand. It is very fragmented when it comes to how
    it communicates. Freight is moved today via an inefficient
    system where shippers, brokers, and carriers transact using
    outdated technology and at times none at all.
        For example, the byproduct of this is that 40 percent of
    the carriers that own trucks have empty trailers as they go up
    and down the highways. So there's only a 60 percent utilization
    of all the trucks in America at any given time.
        How can this improve? Recognizing an opportunity to
    eliminate inefficiencies and capitalizing on one of the
    Nation's most lucrative marketplaces, new and existing
    companies have dramatically increased their investment in and
    adoption of new digital technologies. These technologies are
    simplifying and automating information between carriers and
    brokers.
        The process allows carriers to use digital technology,
    typically today it's a mobile app, to book freight at the click
    of a button. This automated process eliminates current manual
    costly tasks, like on-boarding paperwork and payments. It
    digitizes the paperwork. It increases truck productivity and
    reduces waste, like deadhead miles and detention.
        And why is this beneficial? Well, automation reduces truck
    driver fatigue, which makes the truck driver more safe on the
    road. Transparency and visibility of the data and information
    increases consumer satisfaction. Improved carrier profitability
    leads to more efficiency which leads to better safety on our
    highways.
        In order to realize these benefits, a couple things need to
    happen. We must have an affordable connected universal system
    where all players can participate. It is imperative that all
    software service providers within this universal system remain
    neutral and transparent, enabling all the players to succeed.
        This transparency will ultimately enable greater trust and
    safety throughout the freight industry.
        In conclusion, digital technology will drastically improve
    the transportation and freight industry efficiency and safety
    on the road. However, without supporting surface transportation
    infrastructure, any gains achieved through digital improvement
    will be minimized by congestion, parking availability, hours of
    service corrections, fuel costs, and wear and tear on the
    trucks due to poorly maintained roadways and bridges.
        We, Truckstop.com, are committed to improving the noisy,
    chaotic, multisystem freight industry by automating connections
    so carriers and brokers, regardless of their size, can move
    freight more efficiently.
        In closing, our industry is ready, the freight industry is
    ready to transition to digital technology, but it will take
    time and we look forward to working with the subcommittee on
    bringing that to our industry. We appreciate being here.
        We thank you for the opportunity and we're happy to respond
    to any questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Hutto follows:]

        Prepared Statement of Brent Hutto, Chief Relationship Officer,
                                 Truckstop.com
    Introduction
        Chairwoman Fischer, Ranking Member Duckworth and Members of the
    Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify at today's
    hearing. As the Nation's first digital load board and online freight
    marketplace, Truckstop.com has been serving carriers (owner-operators
    and small fleets), freight brokers (third-party logistics providers or
    3PLs), and shippers for nearly 25 years (see appendix). As a result, we
    have unique insight into the state of transportation and logistics
    within our Nation.
    Introduction of Brent Hutto
        I joined Truckstop.com six years ago, I serve as the Chief
    Relationship Officer for Truckstop.com which includes ensuring the
    health of all of Truckstop.com's external relationships with the
    hundreds of transportation technology companies that we have integrated
    with. In my 22 years in the transportation and logistics industry, I
    have developed extensive experience covering the market including
    positions of leadership in sales, marketing, media, and communication.
    I have specific experience with carriers, brokers, shippers, industry
    suppliers, technology leaders, media companies, and financial firms.
    Presently, I serve on the Boards, Committees, and have membership with
    Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), National Strategic
    Shippers Transportation Council (NASSTRAC), Specialized Carriers &
    Rigging Association (SC&RA), Women In Trucking (WIT), American Trucking
    Association (ATA), Truckload Carriers Association, National Private
    Truck Council (NPTC), Intermodal Association of North America (IANA),
    and National Industrial Transportation League (NITL).
    Introduction of Truckstop.com
        Truckstop.com was founded in 1995 as the first online load board.
    Prior to Truckstop.com, carriers (truck drivers and trucking companies)
    and freight brokers (third-party logistics providers or 3PLs)
    transacted freight via a system of physical bulletin boards, TV
    monitors, and fax machines at truck stops throughout the country.
    Today, Truckstop.com is one of the largest digital freight matching
    marketplaces in North America, with more than 500,000 unique load
    posted per day. In addition to load board services, Truckstop.com
    provides a neutral marketplace with real-time visibility into freight
    capacity, availability, market rates, and truck location. Truckstop.com
    offers freight management services ranging from carrier onboarding to
    insurance and payments.
    State of the transportation and freight industry
        My purpose in testifying today is to provide insight into the
    emerging technology trends within the transportation industry and
    provide a basic framework for understanding how digitization (the
    introduction of new digital technologies) could ultimately challenge or
    evolve existing business models and the impact on current freight and
    surface transportation infrastructures.
        Understanding the transportation and freight industry requires a
    quick examination of the milestones that have led to our current state.
    In 1980, The Motor Carrier Act, partially deregulated the trucking
    industry, resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of trucking
    carriers in operation (less than 20,000 in 1980 to around 1.2 million
    today)\1\ and paving the way for 3PLs. The highly fragmented market
    created by deregulation made it possible for 3PLs to offer value-added
    logistics services, increasing competition and productivity within the
    trucking industry and benefiting the American consumer by reducing
    costs.\2\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Legacy Supply Chain Services. The Evolution of 3PL and How it
    Can Solve Your Business' Supply Chain Challenges; https://
    legacyscs.com/evolution-of-3pl-supply-chain-challenges/
        \2\ Moore, Thomas Gale (2002). Trucking Deregulation; http://
    www.econlib.org/library/Enc1/TruckingDeregulation.html
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Two decades later, the introduction of the internet, ``dot-coms,''
    and e-commerce changed the traditional shipping model once again. The
    rush to free delivery and the increased purchasing of unpredictable
    sets of items from online retailers, required the transportation
    industry to adapt to a new set of shipping practices. This change in
    consumer behavior and the desire for expedited delivery, helps explain
    increases in the American Trucking Associations' trucking tonnage
    index, which has steadily risen since 2001 except for the recession in
    2009.\3\ According to the CSCMP's Annual State of Logistics Report, e-
    commerce continues to create multiple challenges for parcel carriers.
    These include:
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \3\ Yardeni, Dr. Edward (2019). US Economic Indicators: ATA Truck
    Tonnage Index; https://www.yardeni.com/pub/atatruck.pdf

       Delivery density. With more residential deliveries--often
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
            single-package stops--routes are longer and less effective.

       Variability. Shipments in the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas
            window are about twice non-holiday levels. Volumes also
            fluctuate across weekdays as a flood of weekend orders are
            picked up Mondays and delivered Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

       Volume profiles. As e-commerce expands to larger and
            irregularly shaped items (mattresses, patio furniture) that
            won't gift on standard sorting equipment, special handling is
            required.

       Click-to-door requirements. Same-day, two-hour, rush,
            critical, urgent--customers have a seemingly insatiable demand
            for getting their packages as fast as possible.\4\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \4\ CSCMP (2019). Annual State of Logistics Report: Cresting the
    Hill; https://legacyscs.com/evolution-of-3pl-supplychain-challenges/

        Today, more than 70 percent of all freight is moved via road in
    North America. Of this, the for-hire market accounts for 60 percent,
    with nearly 34 percent of that market in turn accounted for by spot
    brokerage (shippers broadcasting loads to freight brokers in order to
    find capacity at a competitive rate).\5\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \5\ Paul, Silpa (2019). Expect Fast Adoption of Digital Freight
    Brokerage Solutions; https://www.trucks.com/2019/03/26/expect-fast-
    adoption-digital-freight-brokerage-solutions/
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        However, under the current system, empty miles (trucks traveling
    without freight) and lengthy idle times (sitting in traffic, wait times
    for loading/unloading) have led to decreased safety and low margins for
    the trucking industry. This results in fuel waste, non-productive
    emissions, lost driver hours, inflated operational costs, and
    unnecessary road congestion.
        As it turns out, of all the miles that truck drivers travel across
    the country, 40 percent of those trucks are empty. Let's think about
    that--40 percent of the carbon impact from trucks today is because of
    empty mileage.

       For every 1 percent improvement in truck routes and
            utilization, we can save:

         Nearly 400 million gallons of fuel from being
                consumed.

         100 million productivity hours from being wasted.

         3 billion miles from being driven each year.\6\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \6\ https://convoy.com/about-us/

        To put all of this in perspective, spending in the U.S. logistics
    and transportation industry totaled $1.64 trillion in 2018 (8 percent
    of U.S. GDP).\7\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \7\ CSCMP (2019). Annual State of Logistics Report: Cresting the
    Hill; https://legacyscs.com/evolution-of-3pl-supplychain-challenges/
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Enter the digital transformation era. Recognizing an opportunity to
    eliminate inefficiencies and capitalize on one of the Nation's most
    lucrative markets, new and existing companies have dramatically
    increased their investment in, and adoption of, new digital
    technologies, including digital freight brokerage apps.
        It is important to note that while multiple industry segments
    (including finance, healthcare, and retail) have been early adopters of
    digital technologies, the transportation and logistics industry has
    traditionally been slower to adopt new technology. A survey of 200
    executives working for terminal operators, carriers, logistic
    providers, shippers, and other supply chain companies found that only
    31 percent of respondents believed their industry was as good or better
    than other industries at adopting new technologies.\8\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \8\ Morley, Hugh R. (2017). Industry Skeptical of Pace of Logistics
    Tech Adoption; https://www.joc.com/international-logistics/logistics-
    providers/industry-skeptical-pace-logistics-techadoption_20170620.html
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        To further emphasize the increased interest in technology adoption,
    we look at global funding for digital brokerage solutions which passed
    $1 billion in 2017 and exceeded $3.6 billion in 2018; a 260 percent
    year-over-year increase.\9\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \9\ Zwahlen, Cyndia (2019). Freight Tech VC on Track to Top 2018's
    Record $3.6 Billion; https://www.trucks.com/2019/04/29/freight-tech-vc-
    top-record-3-6-billion/

        With the U.S. population expected to grow by 38 million between
    2015 and 2030, consumer demand will increase the amount of pressure on
    the transportation and logistics industry to deliver goods in a timely
    and efficient manner. Digital technology adoption will play a huge role
    in transforming the industry as we know it today.
    Digital freight matching and automation
        Digital freight matching allows carriers to use digital technology
    (typically a mobile app) to ``tap and go.'' That means the carrier
    pushes a button to accept a load at an offered rate and they are on the
    road. No more time spent manually researching available loads,
    negotiating on the phone, etc.
        The carrier starts by setting up a profile with their list of
    preferences in their preferred digital freight matching app. For
    example, they select their preferred lanes (the routes they routinely
    travel or service), their truck's capabilities (flatbed, refrigerated,
    etc.), any additional certifications (hazmat, over-sized, etc.), and
    load information. An offer would come through as an alert on their
    phone. The driver can then choose to accept the load if the price,
    location, haul, and timing are right for them.
        Behind what the driver sees, there is a shipper or broker posting
    the freight they need moved. For freight to be moved at the push of a
    button, extensive details about the load must be included. Without
    knowing information like weight, rate, distance, appointment times, and
    pick-up and delivery locations, a carrier cannot confidently commit to
    moving the load.
        Ideal digital freight matching experiences should have the ability
    to predictively and proactively push load matches out to its users. It
    should prioritize a user's preferred business partners. It should have
    wide geographic coverage and automatically track loads, so shippers and
    brokers know exactly where their freight is, estimated time of arrival,
    and when it is delivered.
    Benefits of digital freight matching
        Digital freight matching is evolving the transportation and
    logistics landscape by bringing attention to current inefficiencies and
    outdated practices. Digital freight matching addresses issues
    associated with empty miles, maximizing truck utilization (capacity),
    and wasted time, but it also has the potential to reshape some of the
    more painful parts of the freight negotiation process for both carriers
    AND brokers. For example:

       It can shorten the amount of time spent between getting a
            load posted and having it filled by a carrier.

       It can reduce or remove time spent making phone calls trying
            to find or book a load.

       It can automate processes for finding qualified partners,
            rates, and loads so users have greater confidence and insight
            into the entire freight process from initiation to final
            delivery and payment.

       It can replace outdated systems like fax machines and paper
            documents for carrier onboarding.

       It can automate proof-of-delivery and document management to
            increase the trust between parties and decrease the time needed
            for verifications before payments are made.

       It can increase overall efficiency by eliminating redundant
            manual tasks and allowing employees to focus their time and
            energy on more value-added work.

       It can decrease idle time and improve overall asset
            utilization.

       It can increase available data points and records allowing
            for better reporting and analytics.

        Ideally, digital freight matching will do more than simplify the
    negotiation process. In fact, it should:

       Provide digital messaging and paperwork like bills of
            lading, invoices, contracts, etc.

       Connect partners seamlessly.

       Provide insights for business growth and profit.

       Have a quick-pay solution.

       Provide predictive matching so drivers stay loaded.

       Auto-match capacity (find trucks faster) for brokers.

       Integrate into a transportation management system (TMS) or
            on any mobile device.

        As it stands, there isn't a complete technology solution that can
    do everything it should when it comes to digital freight matching.
    However, as noted previously, increased attention on current
    inefficiencies are rapidly driving innovation, which will have a
    dramatic effect on the current transportation and logistics system we
    know today.
    Effects on the transportation industry
        E-commerce will continue to increase the number of short-haul and
    final-mile trips (movement of goods from a transportation hub or
    warehouse to the final delivery destination), which will increase the
    volume of traffic in densely populated urban areas. So, while digital
    technology has the potential to help the transportation and logistics
    industry address many of the inefficiencies outlined above, the
    ultimate success of digital adoption and successful delivery of goods
    will be closely tied to a reliable and sustainable surface
    transportation infrastructure that can handle increased capacity while
    simultaneously ensuring driver and public safety.
        The FMCSA Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate has introduced a
    wealth of new data to the marketplace. This data opens the door to
    getting better data on transit times and carrier locations and more. As
    additional technology is applied and more end points are added, data
    flowing from computers to computers (sensors, mobile devices, logging
    devices, etc.) will reduce, and in some cases eliminate, the use of
    telephones to match loads with truck capacity reducing the time it
    takes to move and deliver freight. It will allow for better prediction
    of when trucks will arrive despite weather, traffic, and other
    unpredictable events creating more transparency and visibility for more
    efficient load matching and pricing.
        For shippers and brokers, automation will drastically reduce the
    number of repetitive processes that have to occur regularly including
    things like carrier onboarding. For carriers, automation means better
    loads at more attractive rates--using digital technology to coordinate,
    track, and manage documents with full transparency--ultimately making
    them more efficient.
    Conclusion
        According to a September 2018 report by Goldman Sachs
    Transportation, 3PLs and freight brokerages handle 23 percent of all
    loads moved in the U.S., a share that has grown 5x since 2000. As
    technologies continue to evolve, the digitization of the highly
    fragmented freight brokerage marketplace has the potential to
    drastically improve the transportation and freight industry. Technology
    can provide a promise of increased efficiency, however, without
    supporting surface transportation infrastructure, any gains achieved
    through digital improvement will be eliminated by problems of
    congestion, parking availability, hours of service corrections, fuel
    costs, and wear and tear on trucks due to poorly maintained roadways.
        Ultimately, digitization has the potential to improve the entire
    freight matching process, and that translates to increased safety on
    the road. The safety benefits of digital freight matching include:

       Automation replaces the hours spent making manual phone
            calls thus reducing truck driver fatigue.

       Increased efficiency reduces truck driver workload allowing
            the driver to concentrate on the road and become more
            profitable while driving fewer miles.

       More profit means less need to bend the rules thus
            increasing safety.

       Real-time tracking and monitoring of freight movement,
            increases consumer satisfaction and allows for on-the-fly
            updates to avoid traffic congestion due to accidents, weather
            delays, and more.

        Truckstop.com is working to smooth the noisy, chaotic, multi-system
    interface between freight and capacity by automating connections so
    carriers and brokers (regardless of size or resources) can move freight
    more efficiently. We believe it's imperative that Truckstop.com and
    other software service providers remain neutral and not classified as
    licensed freight brokers to help ensure a neutral and transparent
    marketplace enabling all players to succeed--to find, rate, manage,
    optimize, track, insure, and pay for freight.
        We are deeply committed to efforts to continuously improve the
    success of transportation and logistics operations including
    relationships between carriers, brokers, and shippers. We believe that
    adopting digital technology will ultimately improve our Nation's
    trucking infrastructure leading to improved safety on the roads and
    happier consumers. We look forward to working with you and National and
    State officials to help advance the understanding and adoption of
    digital technologies within the transportation industry.
        Thank you, again, for the opportunity to be here today. I am happy
    to respond to any questions.

    [GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

        Senator Fischer. Thank you, sir.
        Welcome again to all the panelists. We will begin with our
    first round of questions and I will start.
        Mr. Ingracia, so nice to see you here. Welcome. You
    mentioned the Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management
    Technologies Deployment Grant that Nebraska won along with
    Wyoming and Utah Departments of Transportation.
        Can you elaborate on the goals of this project and the
    types of technologies that the Department of Roads will deploy
    along I-80?
        Mr. Ingracia. Yes, thank you, Chairman.
        Wyoming has obvious winter weather issues and as we do in
    Nebraska. They have a lot of blow-overs in the winter and their
    initial idea was let's build a system that communicates blow-
    over risk, wind speed, weather conditions directly into the cab
    of the truck.
        Our idea with the ATCMTD Grant that we applied for and were
    awarded was let's take that technology that Wyoming was
    successful in deploying and let's get it on a larger section of
    I-80 and then let's try to find ways to amplify that technology
    by doing things like predictive road closures. Let's not
    predict a 60 percent chance of snow. Let's predict a 60 percent
    chance of road closure on this segment. Let's get that into the
    cab of more trucks. Let's inform them because it's a major
    safety issue.
        Senator Fischer. How can regular drivers benefit from this?
    When I was in Nebraska during March with the blizzards and then
    the flooding and such, I went to the website and I saw just a
    lot happening across the state on the map.
        How many people visit the website and what other means do
    you have to get information out to not just truckers but
    travelers on the road, as well?
        Mr. Ingracia. So the primary method that we use is our 5-1-
    1 app as well as the associated website. Anyone can go there.
    They can view road closures and, you know, as you're aware,
    with the flooding, with the blizzard that occurred in March, we
    had a third of our roadways, our state roadways closed for the
    better part of several days. Certainly it's an issue. We had a
    lot of them hit.
        Normally we'll have 2.8 million hits a year on our 5-1-1
    site. We had that amount in a matter of 6 days during this
    event. So people were really driving to the website. They can
    call 5-1-1 on their phone. We also have a two-way push of data
    into Waze which goes to Google and so if people are using
    Google Maps, if there are detours, that information goes there,
    as well. So it's distributed widely.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you.
        Mr. Hutto, given the broad information load boards that
    Truckstop.com have on their freight transportation network,
    what insights can you provide on challenges and bottlenecks in
    the surface transportation system and how do you incorporate
    that information into the services that you provide because I
    know there's deep concern about the future with the projected
    increase in the number of trucks that are going to be needed to
    continue commerce here in the United States, but there's also
    concern on bottlenecks at known specific points around the
    country, but how do you get that information out?
        Mr. Hutto. How do we get it out or what's the solution?
        Senator Fischer. Well, tell me first what services you
    provide. Then if you have a solution, we'd all be excited to
    hear it.
        Mr. Hutto. We provide data and information to all the
    players that are moving spot market freight, which is 20
    percent of the freight on the U.S. highways every day.
        We are a data resource for every single player and the
    solution I think that I would suggest to you, to the Committee
    would be for systems to be connected. One of the challenges you
    have is you have an unwariness of the marketplace and what's
    going on in metropolitan areas because systems are not
    connected.
        You have certain systems at certain parts of the truck
    driving universe in North America that has the availability to,
    and then the other parts don't have access to it or don't use
    it, because they're not connected to what they use every day.
    So I would say that connecting systems together would be the
    most important--connecting transportation freight systems
    together would be the most impactful way to reduce congestion
    in metro areas as freight moves through those areas at
    different times of the day.
        Senator Fischer. To tie this in with FMCSA recently asked
    for comments on driver detention times during the loading and
    the unloading at shipping facilities.
        Did Truckstop.com have any insights on that driver
    detention time?
        Mr. Hutto. We did not comment on any detention but
    detention is something we intend to solve.
        Senator Fischer. OK. Thank you.
        Senator Duckworth.
        Senator Duckworth. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        With your consent, I'd like to hold on my questions and to
    allow our colleague from Michigan, the great state of Michigan,
    to ask his questions.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you.
        Senator Peters, please.

                    STATEMENT OF HON. GARY PETERS,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM MICHIGAN

        Senator Peters. Thank you.
        Senator Fischer. My former Ranking Member.
        Senator Peters. I know, exactly.
        Senator Fischer. We tossed you over for a new addition.
        Senator Peters. You did very well. You did very well.
        Senator Fischer. Glad you're still here.
        Senator Peters. Good to be here. Thank you, Madam Chair.
    Ranking Member Duckworth, thank you for yielding. To all of the
    folks who are testifying, very interesting testimony.
        We truly are living in very exciting times and the types of
    technological change we're going to see in the years ahead are
    truly transformational and I'm thinking of one of those
    technologies, which many of you mentioned, which is self-
    driving cars, something I've been very involved in and believe
    that the changes we'll see in the auto industry and to our
    society are probably every bit as big as when the first car
    came off of the assembly line and think how that changed our
    world dramatically and created the American middle class and
    really truly created mobility for the first time in human
    history in a significant way. So my questions relate to how we
    go forward with this.
        Mr. Bhatt, I certainly appreciated ITS's past support for
    the AV START Act that I'm working on with Senator Thune who's a
    part of this Committee, as well, but right now I'm in the
    process of working with our House colleagues. We are trying to
    work through some of the aspects of the legislation that we
    developed here in the Senate and coordinate that with what came
    out of the House. I certainly am grateful for your work with us
    on that.
        My question to you is let's take a step back from any
    specific bill right now. If you could just talk about why we
    need legislation versus just maintaining the current status quo
    under NHTSA's existing authority, and what we need to be doing,
    and why we need to be doing it? If you could just kind of
    outline that for the Committee, please?
        Mr. Bhatt. Thank you, Senator Peters, and thank you for
    your work along with Senator Thune and all the other leaders
    who have been trying to wrangle this very complicated issue.
        I think that from an ITS America perspective, we have a
    diverse range of membership. We have automakers, we have
    cities, we have technology companies, we have states, and I
    think the area that we all sort of find common agreement on is
    this idea that, you know, when you drive from New York City to
    Los Angeles and go across the country, the interstate you drive
    on is the same all the way across the country. That's a safety
    benefit, and it's an operational benefit. So as we deploy new
    technologies, such as driverless vehicles, we want to make sure
    that there's a national standard, just like we have for
    highways or transit or aviation, around what is a driverless
    vehicle, and what the components ofare. You know, that you have
    one regulatory agency overseeing what that is as opposed to 50
    states and countless jurisdictions sort of putting their take
    on it.
        So standardization at the Federal level around what the
    vehicle is but still allowing for locals to enforce things like
    speed limits and their licensing. I think those are sort of the
    higher-level frameworks that we're looking at because our
    competition globally is racing ahead in this sphere and we want
    to make sure we stay with them.
        Senator Peters. Which is why we need to have national
    legislation and move beyond the current exemptions that may
    exist under current NHTSA rules. This is about seizing the
    technology, the innovation, but allowing companies also to
    scale up quickly so that we can deploy this, is that accurate?
        Mr. Bhatt. Yes, I think that the exemptions were a good
    start when the numbers were still fairly small and as the
    technology matures and the market matures, we want to make sure
    that the legislation is there to keep pace as the market
    becomes more robust.
        Senator Peters. The other point, and you made this in your
    testimony, to remind us how dangerous our highways are, that
    well over a hundred people will die today as we speak, and that
    the promise of this technology is that we can dramatically
    reduce those deaths as well as dramatically reduce the
    injuries, some of those debilitating injuries, so those can be
    reduced.
        So I would sense that getting this law passed quickly is
    very important. It literally means saving lives. Every extra
    day it takes to move this industry forward another hundred
    people may die that many of them could have been saved, is that
    accurate?
        Mr. Bhatt. I would say that there's a broad swath of
    technologies that are deployable available today and I'm really
    grateful that this hearing has been convened to inform the next
    authorization because every day that we delay another hundred
    people die on our roadways and NHTSA estimates that connected
    vehicle technologies could mitigate 80 percent of unimpaired
    crashes. That's 1.2 million crashes that could be mitigated
    every year, tens of thousands of lives. So, yes, the sooner we
    can speed the deployment of technology we think it'll be a
    positive outcome.
        Senator Peters. Two weeks ago, Chairman Pai from the FCC
    suggested once again that transportation stakeholders were not
    taking advantage of the 5.9 gigahertz band and that the FCC
    should go forward in perhaps sharing it or giving it to other
    entities.
        In your written testimony, you acknowledge that there are
    divergent views held by transportation stakeholders and the
    cable industry. What are the real risks to public safety if the
    FCC were to move forward with their idea of sharing 5.9 bands
    without the benefit of all the studies that are going on?
        Mr. Bhatt. Yes, I would just quickly say I have a lot of
    respect for Chairman Pai and I think he has a diverse set of
    stakeholders that he needs to listen to.
        I would simply say that all of the connected vehicle
    technologies require the 5.9-gigahertz spectrum, whether it's
    DSRC, CV2X. You need that spectrum. We're open to sharing, as
    long as the testing is completed with unlicensed devices, and
    we encourage the rapid completion of that, but we want to be
    clear that whether it's Nebraska, Florida, Utah, New York City,
    there is deployment today and people who say that it's not
    being used it's just not an accurate statement.
        Senator Peters. Thank you.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Peters.
        Senator Duckworth.
        Senator Duckworth. Again, I'd like to hold my remarks and
    yield to Senator Blumenthal so he can get his questions in if
    that's all right.
        Senator Fischer. Senator Duckworth is the nicest person we
    know, and you two owe her big time.
        Senator Blumenthal.
        Senator Duckworth. Thank you.

                 STATEMENT OF HON. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL,
                     U.S. SENATOR FROM CONNECTICUT

        Senator Blumenthal. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, and thank
    you, Senator Duckworth, and I agree totally. She is one of the
    nicest persons I know and since my wife would regret if I said
    the nicest person I know and we're on the record, but thank
    you, Senator.
        You were just talking about, Mr. Bhatt, life-saving
    technologies that are available right now. We'll be debating
    the legislation that might further driverless cars, but
    automated emergency braking technology is available right now
    and it could literally stop 80 percent of the rear-end
    collisions that we have in this country.
        So my question is couldn't this technology be made
    available in 2019 or 2020 models, and shouldn't the automakers
    of America provide this kind of technology as a standard
    feature on all cars?
        Mr. Bhatt. Thank you, Senator.
        I think that, yes, automatic emergency braking not only
    prevents rear-end collisions but also in this increasingly
    distracted world in which we live, in which drivers are
    distracted, pedestrians are distracted, and other and new forms
    of mobility options, like scooters, come out there, a
    technology like automatic emergency braking can prevent rear-
    end collisions and also greater tragedies.
        In fact, at the ITS America annual meeting, Ford
    demonstrated how their connected vehicle platform using CV2X
    was able to detect a scooter and how the vehicle stopped
    because it recognized that the scooter was coming into its
    field of view.
        So in terms of technologies, like automatic emergency
    braking or lanekeeping, it is critically important and it's
    being deployed on more and more models, just as many safety
    features are, and we'd love to see it deployed on more models.
        Senator Blumenthal. Anybody on the panel disagree?
        [No disagreement.]
        Senator Blumenthal. Great. No one is disagreeing, let the
    record show.
        I know this is primarily an automotive panel, I think, but
    in terms of rail safety and technology, I've been a strong
    advocate of positive train control. The deadline for
    implementing it has been set back a couple of times. The trains
    of America are under a 2020 deadline.
        Anybody here see any reason that trains should be excused
    from meeting that deadline? It is a form of technology that
    also can save lives on trains. I gather no one does see any
    reason that it should be delayed further.
        [No disagreement.]
        Senator Blumenthal. We all understand the reasons why it
    can help save lives because it will stop trains when they're
    going to hit another train or when they're going too fast and
    that's very important, long overdue.
        I am introducing the Used Car Safety Recall Repair Act with
    Senator Markey. As you may know, there are a lot of innovations
    in transportation, a lot of advances in technology, but the
    safety of our roads will continue to be in jeopardy as long as
    we resell cars that are under recall.
        Incredibly, most Americans have no idea that there is no
    provision in Federal law that requires that consumers be told
    those cars are under recall or why and so there are about 70
    million vehicles on the road today with open recalls. That's
    double the number last year and one in four of all cars and
    many are sold by used car dealers unrepaired with safety
    defects.
        Let me ask all of you what other ideas--I assume that you
    would support this legislation. If anyone on the panel
    disagrees, I hope you'll tell me why?
        [No disagreement.]
        Senator Blumenthal. No takers. Let me ask the panel what
    other ideas you have about how we can reduce the number of
    vehicles on the road with open recalls? Anybody have other
    ideas?
        [No response.]
        Senator Blumenthal. These are safety defects, as you all
    know, being driven today on the roads. They endanger not only
    the drivers and the passengers in those cars but others who are
    on the road with them. They have bad brakes or a Takata airbag
    that explodes. They can endanger other vehicles.
        Ms. Schlenker. I would just say that a tracking of the
    subsequent owners from the first purchase into the second,
    third, fourth as they move into the used vehicle, the tracking
    system today, I think, is inadequate to be able to reach out to
    those subsequent owners for address and e-mails, et cetera, to
    be able to connect them to understand about the recalls that
    are open.
        Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. Mr. Bhatt.
        Mr. Bhatt. Senator, I would say on the positive train
    control, when I was in the Secretary of Transportation in
    Delaware, sat on the Northeast Corridor Commission and saw a
    lot of need for PTC and pledge your efforts on that, and on the
    used vehicle fleet, there are about 300 million vehicles in the
    fleet and so some form of a big data application. It shouldn't
    be that hard to--using VIN numbers and being able to track and
    maybe it's potentially a Bitcoin application. I think there are
    opportunities to make it safer.
        Senator Blumenthal. Thank you. Great panel. Thank you,
    Madam Chairman, and thank you again, Senator Duckworth.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator.
        Senator Duckworth. OK. My turn. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        Senator Fischer. I thought you were going to yield to me.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Duckworth. Ms. Schlenker, in your testimony, you
    talked about smart mobility as the next transportation
    revolution that we can expect. You also mentioned the mobility
    challenges facing the public and private sector today.
        What are the major challenges facing the advent of smart
    mobility technologies and what, if anything, can Congress do to
    address those barriers?
        Ms. Schlenker. So as we talk about smart mobility, it's
    about data availability, the Internet of things and all the
    modes of information that are available to us.
        As we reach out for the Department of Energy National
    Laboratories, frequently the metropolitan planning
    organizations, the MPOs, the city DOTs, the states, they're
    aware of all these changes in technologies and new micro-
    mobility modes coming out, the way people interact with
    transportation, transit viability and how important it really
    is, and so they're, I don't want to say paralyzed, but they're
    seeking new information what the future could really be and
    where they should invest and how they should better prepare.
        One example is in Chicago, they're going to try curbside
    management. As you start to think about the demand for the
    curb, whether it be taxi or TNC transportation network company
    drop-offs, whether it be bike lanes, whether it be scooters
    that are there, a bus lane, maybe it's the beer delivery truck
    that's at the curb or the FedEx truck. So how you manage that
    whole curb as an example and really it's trialing different
    solutions--whether they be price signals, time of day signals,
    other incentives potentially, you know, some other downside
    risks that you're trying to mitigate, and having that best
    practice and sharing globally and certainly across all the
    different regions here in the U.S. to be able to share those
    learnings.
        Senator Duckworth. Thank you. I also see tremendous value
    in, as you're talking, about big data to make more informed
    planning decisions, just like you're mentioning, and maximizing
    the return of infrastructure investment.
        Can you talk a bit about the collaborations you're engaged
    with to improve this decisionmaking process, like the Utopia
    Mission, the Urban Technology Optimization and Planning in
    America Mission?
        Ms. Schlenker. Absolutely. So big data, as we look at many
    of the cities and regions, some of them are now adopting chief
    information officers beyond sustainability officers or mobility
    officers, trying to manage all that data that comes in, whether
    it be from red light cameras, whether it be from signal phase
    and timing, whether it be all these new detectors that are out
    there, so trying to move toward predictive analytics and not
    just collision avoidance but also health effects and other
    things that we want to take a look at from that big data. So
    open source, data standardization, providing it back to
    academia, to industry, understanding you're protecting privacy
    at the same time.
        I think this is one of the ways that we really will improve
    the future for all of us.
        Senator Duckworth. Thank you. Mr. Ingracia, according to
    the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, 122 law
    enforcement officers have been killed in traffic-related deaths
    along U.S. roadways over the past 10 years.
        In the first three months of this year alone in Illinois,
    two officers in Illinois were tragically killed after being
    struck by vehicles that failed to move over as they were
    conducting routine traffic stops, and I appreciate everyone's
    interest in addressing long-term transportation issues like
    autonomous vehicle deployment, on-demand services, but how are
    state DOTs using new technologies today to address critical
    safety concerns like roadside accidents?
        Mr. Ingracia. I would have to apologize. It's not something
    I've really been briefed on and we can certainly respond to the
    Committee in writing on that.
        Senator Duckworth. OK. Great. Thank you.
        Mr. Hutto, what innovative tools and practices are
    available to truck drivers to make our roadways safer?
        Mr. Hutto. Well, thank you for the question, Ranking Member
    Duckworth.
        The products that are available to increase safety on the
    highways are through the connected systems and what I mean by
    that is that we have recently worked on products with the FMCSA
    and Wisconsin DOT and we've been working on this since 2017 on
    an e-credentialing product where all the permits that our
    truckers are required to have and to display during inspection
    have been authorized to be able to show to the highway officer
    through a digital product, through a phone or a digital
    display, and our initial test on that for the last two years on
    it with the truck fleet of 157 trucks, we were able to
    determine that we could reduce the stopped time by 20 minutes
    the highway officer would be exposed to being on the highway
    and that is a massive increase in efficiency when it comes to
    their safety on the road with not being exposed while making
    these inspections.
        It's also a cost reduction for the fleets, but, most
    importantly, it's a safety issue.
        Senator Duckworth. What's the average length of time of
    those stops, if you're dropping it by 20 minutes? Is that like
    50 percent per drop or?
        Mr. Hutto. That's a good question. I don't know the
    percentage drop.
        Senator Duckworth. Thank you. I yield back, Madam Chair.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Duckworth.
        Senator Thune.

                     STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN THUNE,
                     U.S. SENATOR FROM SOUTH DAKOTA

        Senator Thune. Thank you, Madam Chair, and I appreciate
    this hearing and all of you being here today and the
    opportunity to talk about technology and transportation and how
    they are integrated, especially as we think about the
    reauthorization of the FAST Act, which expires at the end of
    next year and which we all need to be focused on, but I'm
    hopeful that this highway bill can incorporate and integrate a
    lot of these new technologies into enhancing our supply chain.
        I just had a couple of quick questions. Mr. Duffy, you
    mentioned in your testimony the potential for blockchain to
    greatly enhance supply chain visibility, enabling efficient and
    cost-effective freight transportation and more targeted
    responses when supply chain issues arise.
        We often hear about the pitfalls of cryptocurrencies, like
    Bitcoin and Ethereum, which leverage open decentralized
    blockchain platforms. Could you describe how a permissioned
    blockchain platform proposed for use in the transportation
    sector would be differentiated from such platforms?
        Mr. Duffy. Yes, thank you for the question, Senator Thune.
        It's important to differentiate blockchain from
    cryptocurrency. While cryptocurrency is leveraged, blockchain
    technology to keep records of the transactions that occur
    leveraging those cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology can
    leverage U.S. dollars or regular currencies or not be
    associated with financial transactions at all.
        As Mr. Hutto was just talking about with the e-
    credentialing technology, it's another great use of blockchain,
    ensuring that the accuracy around driver credentials, whether
    that's health records or insurance or driving records, that
    that data is high-fidelity data, and hasn't been corrupted or
    modified through time, and so supply chain in transportation
    industries are notoriously low margin and so much of that
    margin capture is associated to creating trust between
    counterparties.
        By leveraging blockchain technology, we can increase the
    trust available between counterparties and allow for
    collaborative commerce to emerge and so I think there's value
    unlocked to be had by leveraging that technology, an economic
    benefit but also energy efficiencies, as Ms. Schlenker had
    referred to, and even safety efficiencies when we start talking
    about records of safety.
        Senator Thune. For companies who already have advanced
    supply chain management systems, could you speak more to the
    feasibility of incorporating these existing technologies into a
    blockchain smart contract-based system?
        Mr. Duff. Yes, sir. So the Blockchain in Transportation
    Alliance represents hundreds of companies spanning the globe,
    representing almost a trillion dollars in annual revenue, and
    we're quickly moving from the experimental into the real world.
    So we're seeing enterprises move from proof of concepts into
    implementing this technology in real world practices.
        So whether that is tracking containers as they move across
    the globe into U.S. commerce, that's a great use case but also
    around creating visibility between supply chain partners. So on
    a containerized good movement from East Africa into the United
    States, there may be up to 40 different counterparties
    associated with that move and hundreds or possibly even a
    thousand pages of documentation.
        It's a situation ripe for human error. So leveraging
    advanced technology, including blockchain, is a way to minimize
    that, those human-induced errors, and create better trust
    between counterparties.
        Senator Thune. You briefly discussed a set of blockchain
    standards being developed by your member companies, including
    one released this February.
        How do you think the development of these standards will
    help companies integrate blockchain into the supply chain
    management systems?
        Mr. Duffy. I think we're really reaching kind of a critical
    mass moment in terms of the needs for the adoption of standards
    and Mr. Bhatt and Mr. Ingracia mentioned the need for national
    standards around highway safety technologies.
        Our technology and our standards associated to the
    technologies around them for which they'll be applicable, it's
    global, global in nature, and so it's really important to
    understand that our member companies when developing these
    standards represent every transportation mode, air, road, rail,
    ocean, and they're all coming together in a collaborative way
    to agree upon these standards and I think that's really going
    to move the ball forward from the experimental into an
    ecosystem level adoption over the next 36 months to 5 years.
        Senator Thune. Mr. Hutto, you mention in your testimony
    many of the enormous improvements that can be made through the
    use of technology in the supply chain.
        Given the strain on our current infrastructure from a
    growing economy, new technologies that optimize the efficiency
    and capacity of the supply chain are needed now more than ever.
        So could you just speak to some of the challenges facing
    the adoption of the new technologies in the transportation
    sector?
        Mr. Hutto. Yes, sir, thank you for the question, Senator.
        Some of the challenges with adoption of it are availability
    to them. A lot of systems that are being created today are
    privatized and are only available for those that have massive
    resources.
        When you look at the transportation industry, it is
    proliferated by small players and we as a technology, we
    started in 1995, were built for the small player in the
    marketplace, the small carrier, the small fleet, the small
    brokerage company, and really its the access to that system and
    for that system to have universal availability of data to an
    entire marketplace.
        So the biggest challenge is being able to get at the data
    and as the market begins to move into a digital process, which
    is where you've got predictive and proactive information being
    pushed to them, it's got to be available for all players.
    That's the biggest problem. It should not just benefit those
    that readily have the resources to do it because they are a
    large company.
        Senator Thune. So what would you say Congress can do to
    encourage the adoption or deployment of some of these
    innovative technologies? What role do we play in all of it?
        Mr. Hutto. The role that you play would be to help to make
    our roadways and highway systems the most efficient possible
    because that allows more players to come in the marketplace
    which enables more trucks to move freight.
        Senator Thune. I get that, but I'm just wondering, you
    know, how we enable that to happen because, like you said, a
    lot of this is happening in the private sector, in the private
    economy, and is only adopted by those who have the resources to
    do that.
        So as we think about the reauthorization of the highway
    bill, do you have any suggestions about that, things that we
    could be doing on our side?
        Mr. Hutto. Well, the one thing that jumps in my mind is
    to--and I know I may go back to this a couple times, but the
    Number 1 thing that puts a small trucking company out of
    business is a major mechanical failure and when you think about
    the wear and tear on the road that goes into a vehicle, a
    truck, and you consider that's the Number 1 thing that puts
    them out of business, a smooth surface to roll on and a
    dependable surface to roll on is probably the most important
    because it's the Number 1 thing that puts them out of business.
        Senator Thune. OK. An old technology and a new technology.
        Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator.
        Mr. Hutto, would you say that driver shortage is also a
    concern that you have and that the Federal Government could
    help if we had an age--looking at lowering ages for drivers to
    be able to drive interstate, not just intrastate?
        Mr. Hutto. Thank you for your question, Chair Fischer. I
    apologize. I think earlier I did refer to you improperly, so I
    apologize about that, ma'am.
        Senator Fischer. I don't know. I'd have to go back and
    look.
        Mr. Hutto. I do appreciate you getting my name correct.
    Thank you very much.
        That is a hot topic that has been around for a long time
    and certainly it's one that could alleviate part of the
    problem. I know that it's a principle that the American
    Trucking Association is looking at as far as what's the
    feasibility of that.
        Our marketplace certainly needs more drivers to operate the
    trucks but also needs technology systems connected where the
    capacity utilization of the truck is at its greatest amount.
    When you have 60 percent utilization of something, you've got
    to have a big solution on that end.
        Senator Fischer. OK. Thank you.
        Mr. Hutto. Yes, ma'am.
        Senator Fischer. Mr. Duffy, you noted in your testimony
    that blockchain is the tip of the spear in digitizing some of
    the most antiquated systems used in the transportation sector.
        In what ways do blockchain-powered distributed ledgers
    offer new solutions for a supply chain in ways that other
    technology, like RFIT is limited?
        Mr. Duffy. Can you repeat the last part of that?
        Senator Fischer. The question?
        Mr. Duffy. Just the last part, the RFID?
        Senator Fischer. The R-F-I-D, RFID.
        Mr. Duffy. Oh, R-F. So blockchain technology isn't
    necessarily special. You know, it's a specialized type of
    database. Every database is in a blockchain but it is allowing
    for collaborative commerce to emerge where companies are
    otherwise operating in silos.
        Those data silos create massive inefficiencies. So whether
    you're talking about detention and demurrage time around ports
    or around trying to create higher fidelity data points inside
    systems, like the automated customs environment that CDP
    leverages, creating standards around the data components that
    operate in the technological systems levered by the supply
    chain in transportation intermediaries across the globe will
    increase the efficiencies, which will also allow for all sorts
    of opportunities to emerge.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you.
        Mr. Bhatt, you recommended several times in your testimony
    that ITS technologies should be considered eligible projects
    for Federal support.
        What are some of the key programs or grants within the
    Department of Transportation that limit eligibility or do not
    provide support for ITS projects, such as smart traffic signals
    or data collection and analysis software?
        Mr. Bhatt. Thank you, Chairman Fischer.
        I actually think there's a great deal of flexibility that
    was introduced in the FAST Act to allow for states and cities
    to deploy these technologies. I think what we're looking for is
    probably--I think the biggest challenge that faces the next
    reauthorization is the amount of funding that is available.
    States and cities have to make tough choices about preserving
    the system, expanding capacity, and making important
    investments in technology.
        So I think there's a lot of flexibility that exists. It's
    just making sure that there are enough resources within the
    program so that we don't have to make tough choices between
    those two priorities.
        Senator Fischer. Mr. Ingracia, do you agree with that? Does
    the State of Nebraska have enough flexibility when you're
    looking at Federal funding and grant programs to support your
    efforts so that we can start deploying more of these
    technological advances that we're seeing?
        Mr. Ingracia. I generally feel like we do. The ATCMTD Grant
    Pilot Programs in general, that is the way for us as a state to
    take an appropriate level of risk and try something new and
    that's really as a technology guy, that's what I get more
    excited about, is the opportunity to participate in a pilot
    program.
        To the extent that we learn something and we're able to
    disseminate that knowledge to other states, to the extent that
    we can even partner with other states on the project, like we
    are with ATCMTD, it's a very powerful thing.
        Senator Fischer. Do you have any other examples you can
    share with us where Nebraska is doing that or where you've
    maybe learned something from another state that's participated
    in a pilot program? I'm putting you on the spot here.
        Mr. Ingracia. Yes, that's a very good question. You know, I
    think data analytics might be the best example of that. We have
    a project right now that's another one of these things where
    it's new technology.
        We're bringing consultants in to help us understand what
    our data can tell us about the roadway and we've done all kinds
    of projects with regard to pavement condition and what
    influences pavement condition and when you have years and years
    and years of data, you're able to distil that down into some
    very counterintuitive sometimes results, even to our business
    processes, and what gets us better bids, what reduces bid
    prices, over years and years of data, and you're able to distil
    that down and get good results.
        Senator Fischer. Great. Thank you.
        Senator Duckworth.
        Senator Duckworth. Thank you, Madam Chair.
        Mr. Bhatt, I agree with you that many of the transportation
    decisionmakers cling to outdated functions and policies that
    sometimes dampen or undermine implementation of new
    technologies and far too often transportation decisions are
    made behind closed doors, leaving the average taxpayer to
    question whether or not their hard-earned dollars are being
    spent wisely.
        Generally, I agree with your testimony about providing
    transportation planners the flexibility to experiment with
    innovative initiatives, like the Horizon effort in San
    Francisco, but we must be careful not to waste taxpayer
    dollars.
        Are there specific Federal planning policies that you think
    are rigid that are in existence right now?
        Mr. Bhatt. Thank you, Ranking Member Duckworth.
        I think the entire planning process, which was pretty
    innovative at the time, came out of ISTEA and some of those
    like mid-1990s transportation authorizations, are still being
    used today. I think some of the projects that we're building in
    Colorado and Delaware, but we're using 1980s-based planning
    method and not looking at new technology and how it's going to
    change.
        So there are examples around the country where MPOs and
    other planning organizations are starting to bring in the
    advent of new technology and what the impact is, just thinking
    about things like autonomous vehicles and connected vehicles
    and what that does to driver demand, new mobility options, so
    we don't necessarily just have to go out and widen roadways. We
    can perhaps move more people, data, and freight with existing
    roadways.
        So I think there's a lot that we can do using things like
    big data and other things to improve that planning process.
        Senator Duckworth. Are there policies that are preventing
    us from doing that? I mean, why are we not--is it just because
    this is how we've always done it since the 1990s or are there
    actual policies in place, whether Federal or otherwise, that
    are keeping us from being able to do that?
        Mr. Bhatt. I'd be happy to check with some of our MPO
    partners to see if that is the case. I think it is an element
    of, you know, you have to have certain levels of public
    engagement and are there better ways to do public engagement in
    this new digital age?
        I think we sort of go out and do a 25-year plan and say
    let's take our traffic counts from today and extrapolate those
    out, but the technology is advancing at such a rapid pace that
    maybe that's not the best way to do it. Maybe we want to look
    at scenarios of different rates of deployment of technology.
        So I think we want to tweak it. I think it's still
    delivering a good product, but I think it needs to be freshened
    up for the 21st Century.
        Senator Duckworth. Is there a cost component that's acting
    as a barrier to sort of adopting some of these new
    technologies, big data, or that? I mean, once you get it, then
    it's helpful in the planning process, but there's a cost
    barrier to starting to use it, whether it's acquisition costs?
        Mr. Bhatt. I actually think that your question is probably
    even two steps down the road from where we are. We talk about
    big data, but it's a question of what is the actionable
    information that I need? Is it origin and destination data for
    travelers in a metropolitan region? Is it traffic counts? You
    know, are there different measures of mobility? Scooters are a
    fairly new invention and they are transforming a lot of urban
    landscapes. They're not in any transportation plan that I've
    seen that was done before 2 years ago because they didn't
    exist.
        And so I think that we want to look at where our planning
    dollars are being spent and what the outcomes are that we're
    looking at, but again we'd be happy to check with some of our
    planning partners and come back and say here's some things that
    we could definitely try to look at in the next authorization.
        Senator Duckworth. OK. Thank you. I yield back.
        Senator Fischer. In case we have any subcommittee members
    or committee members who are watching and would like to come
    down and ask questions, Senator Duckworth and I will ask a
    couple more questions to keep the hearing open so they can make
    it here.
        Ms. Schlenker, in your testimony, you mentioned that rural
    areas can also benefit from technological solutions that inform
    traveler choice and optimize movement.
        In your opinion, what are some of the key challenges rural
    areas face in adopting and deploying these technologies and how
    might they benefit from them?
        Ms. Schlenker. Thank you.
        In rural areas in particular, just the density of the
    population sometimes brings forward a lag in the technology
    that's available into that particular community. You can
    witness that now in dense urban areas where you see the
    scooters erupting. You see the ride health services coming
    there just because of the market pull.
        So in the rural areas, you have to understand that one of
    the big issues, I believe, is the connectivity and having a
    connection both to the infrastructure and vehicle to vehicle is
    key.
        I think that information is going to help on traffic
    accidents and I think it will also help on some of the
    efficiency or the movement that we have through the particular
    areas.
        When you think of a rural neighborhood or a rural corridor,
    rural streets, and sometimes they're dark, they don't have the
    street light benefit, et cetera, and we have collisions with
    wildlife and blind corners with headlights not glaring in
    particular from passengers and travelers and so the opportunity
    with that connectivity, I think, is one of the big assets that
    we'll have with rural densities.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you.
        Mr. Ingracia, what are some of the challenges that we see
    in Nebraska in rural areas when they're looking at adopting and
    implementing new transportation technologies?
        As you know, I come from a county of less than one person
    per square mile and we have 6,000 square miles. So tell me my
    challenges?
        Mr. Ingracia. Thank you, Chairman Fischer.
        That's a question that I really appreciate. I also grew up
    in a very rural area in Southern Missouri and moved to Nebraska
    after college.
        I would say, you know, connected vehicle, autonomous
    vehicle, electric vehicle, all these conversations have been a
    very urban level conversation. They have not been centered on
    rural areas and yet I think that rural areas stand to benefit
    as much, maybe even more, from these kind of technologies.
        If you think about, even in your own experience, you know,
    driving to the grocery store, what if your car goes and get
    groceries and brings them back for you and that saves you three
    or four hours out of your day. That's a life-changing thing.
        We support as a state, as NDOT, we support rural mobility
    options where folks need to get to the doctor. They're in rural
    areas. It's a long trip. They have a long wait to get picked up
    and a long wait to go back home. The idea that an autonomous
    vehicle could take them there on their own time table would be
    a life-changing thing.
        So we have recently sponsored research at the University of
    Nebraska to go out and have them survey folks in rural areas,
    talk to people who have experienced autonomous farm equipment,
    and what have their experiences been like. I don't think
    anyone's asking them those questions. Are they learning when
    does this work, when does it not work, what are the weather
    effects? You know, are there things that we can learn when we
    talk even about urban autonomous vehicles? Are there things we
    can learn from the rural community and then also to ask them
    how is this going to change your life? You know, how would this
    change your commute? How would this change your day?
        I think these technologies will transform rural areas just
    as much as urban.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you.
        Senator Duckworth.
        Senator Duckworth. Thank you.
        Mr. Duffy, your written testimony talks about how the
    digitization of outdated analog systems is an important step to
    being able to take advantage of current technologies, like
    blockchain, for the transportation sector.
        What analog systems need to be prioritized for digitization
    in order to support blockchain and other technology deployments
    in the transportation sector? Are there priorities of analog
    systems that you think, you know, we should be looking at?
        Mr. Duffy. I don't have a specific list or an ordering of
    the technologies, but in the case of the lettuce situation that
    I mentioned previously, you know, that's associated to a pen
    and paper-based process.
        You know, there are instances of pen and paper, fax
    machines, old technology being leveraged where modern
    technology could definitely be available. So whether that's
    actual bill of lading input through a smart phone at the farm
    site, that might be an easy way to mitigate risk there.
        Senator Duckworth. Do you know of any important datasets,
    for example, that are maintained by the Department of
    Transportation or other Federal agencies that should be
    digitized?
        One of the things we talked about already is perhaps
    sharing of the VIN numbers for the sale of used cars and along
    those lines.
        Are there other datasets that you can think of or maybe
    someone else on the panel can think of that should be priority
    for digitization so that we can take advantage of blockchain
    technology?
        Mr. Duffy. Again, I don't have a specific list. I'd defer
    to any one of the panelists.
        Mr. Bhatt. Ranking Member Duckworth, again this concept of
    the data, there's performance data that we collect on the
    system, so it's how many vehicles per day is moving in a
    certain area, what is the on-time performance of transit. There
    are all kinds of performance indicators, condition performance,
    so what are the potholes on our roads, what are the conditions
    of bridges.
        So again our challenge right now, we are awash in the sea
    of data. It is figuring out what is that actionable
    intelligence that we can get and then how do we translate that
    for states and cities to operate their system more effectively.
        But happy to come back with some very specific datasets
    that we either have or we should have in order to work that
    into the next authorization.
        Senator Duckworth. So that's exactly what I'm wondering, is
    we have so much data, how do we winnow it down? Is there a
    process that we should be following? Is that something we
    should be developing? How do we winnow it down and say, OK,
    these are the top 10 that we need to digitize now and this is
    going to make the biggest difference for the trucking industry
    for highway safety? You know what I'm asking?
        Mr. Duffy. A hundred percent and so just on the mobility
    piece, we're having a robust discussion. We have our Mobility
    on Demand Alliance that is a mix of public sector agencies and
    private sector transportation providers who are trying to
    figure out what data is it that the private sector companies
    have, what data is it that public sector agencies have.
        There is some reticence around sharing some of the data
    right now because some of it could be linked to competitive
    issues, but we're working through some of that stuff. On the
    crash system, we have FARS data that is pretty accurate, the
    fatalities.
        Bridge condition is another one that we have great datasets
    around. So there's a lot of good data out there. I think it's
    just a couple of steps and this is something I think that the
    public sector agencies can be working on in time for the next
    authorization to say this is where you get the biggest bang for
    the buck and where we deploy our resources.
        Senator Duckworth. Mr. Hutto, do you have like a wish list
    of data that, boy, if this stuff was digitized, this would make
    it so much easier, more profitable? It would, you know, reduce
    the costs for my industry? Do you have that?
        Mr. Hutto. Thank you. That's a great question, Ranking
    Member Duckworth.
        In the trucking industry, because of fragmentation and,
    most of all, the information is privatized in some of our
    product companies, it would be the availability of that data to
    be plugged into a universal platform where the participants and
    all the trucking companies and the trucks that are moving could
    do their routing and planning based on how freight is moving
    nationwide.
        What I mean by that is that it would create great
    efficiency because you'd have visibility into where freight's
    moving. So you could reduce congestion because you'd know that
    this number of trucks is going into that city at that time and
    so you could plan and route that better.
        What you have is a disparate system that they're not
    connected together. So you have a tremendous amount of trucks
    trying to go into a certain area that creates more congestion,
    but if you had systems that were connected together, then you
    could efficiently route and plan that better which would create
    better safety on the roads because you'd have less miles
    because of the planning that would happen.
        So as far as a wish list, it would be that all of the
    pieces of data that are required for freight to move from
    beginning to end would exist on a platform that would have
    visibility through the entire industry.
        Senator Duckworth. Thank you. Yield back.
        Senator Fischer. Thank you, Senator Duckworth.
        Once again, I would like to thank the panel for being here
    today. We appreciate all the information that you've given us.
        The hearing record will remain open for two weeks and
    during this time, any Senators are asked to submit their
    questions for the record. Upon receipt, the witnesses are
    requested to submit their written answers to the Committee as
    soon as possible.
        With that, thank you once again.
        The hearing is adjourned.
        [Whereupon, at 4 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                                A P P E N D I X

       Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
                                 Steve Ingracia
        Traffic Congestion. Washington State faces growing traffic
    congestion problems. The 2018 Traffic Scorecard by INRIX, which ranks
    cities based on analysis of congestion and mobility, ranked Seattle as
    the sixth most congested city in the country. Drivers in Seattle each
    lost 138 hours to congestion in 2018, costing over $1,900 per driver.
    These are real losses in time and productivity.
        Question. What technologies or innovations are being used by NDOT
    and other state DOTs to improve congestion and mobility?
        Answer. Ongoing advancements in technology, and the transportation
    industry's ability to innovatively apply them to positively impact
    quality of life through increased mobility, are supplying state DOT's
    with a magnitude of resources to support enhanced safety and improved
    driver experience in congested areas.
        Technology advancements that improve mobility and provide current
    and relevant information to drivers on roadway situations help manage
    driver expectation and improve overall satisfaction levels. For
    Departments of Transportation, maintaining a free-flowing roadway is
    not always the optimal goal--in some areas and at some times of day
    this is unattainable--but providing predictable mobility should always
    be a primary goal.
        In Nebraska, we seek to provide predictable mobility by using a mix
    of operations techniques and technology. We monitor congested locations
    during rush hour using fiber-connected cameras, and we co-locate our
    operations center staff with state patrol to allow quick face-to-face
    collaboration.
        The DOT also gathers weather data at 62 sites around Nebraska,
    including pavement temperature and subsurface temperature, in order to
    work with the National Weather Service and our private sector partners
    to predict weather conditions on the roadway. Our full-time
    meteorologist uses the Pathfinder platform to communicate with our
    State Operations Center, first responders, and our eight districts to
    translate weather information into road condition predictions to assist
    with road maintenance and provide information to the public on
    traveling conditions.
        Like many DOT's we're always seeking to improve our partnerships
    with other governmental bodies and collaborate with the private sector
    to better communicate roadway situations to the public. Technological
    advancements in data gathering tools provides DOT's with better
    information on the mobility needs of the public.
                                     ______

        Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to
                                 Steve Ingracia
        Question. The DOT estimates that up to 80 percent of vehicle
    crashes involving unimpaired drivers could be prevented by vehicle-to-
    vehicle technology, which allows vehicles to communicate wirelessly
    with other vehicles and helps alert drivers to dangerous traffic
    situations. How can technology like this help to improve roadway
    safety, particularly in rural areas?
        Answer. As a rural state, freight management is an important topic
    both in terms of efficiency that can be gained through autonomous
    technology and connectivity concerns that could impact roadway safety.
    In October of 2018, I attended a meeting in Portland, Oregon with
    Daimler Trucking, where they demonstrated their commercially-available
    vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) solution for freight haulers using Dedicated
    Short Range Communications (DSRC) technology. In this demonstration,
    two fully-loaded (80,000 lb.) DSRC-equipped trucks were platooning--
    travelling roughly 50 feet apart at highway speed. When the lead truck
    encountered an obstacle in the roadway, it wirelessly notified the
    follow truck to slow down in advance of applying its own brakes. In
    this manner, when the lead truck stopped, the follow truck had already
    stopped and was 75 feet from the lead truck. This was a compelling
    demonstration, and seeing this technology in action on the roadway only
    acts to reinforce the importance of encouraging its adoption in both
    heavy trucks and passenger vehicles.
        The Advanced Transportation and Congestion Management Technologies
    Deployment (ATCMTD) Federal grant just awarded to the Nebraska DOT, in
    partnership with the Wyoming and Utah Departments of Transportation,
    will advance technologies that improve mobility and safety across the
    multi-state I-80 corridor. This project will build upon Wyoming's
    successful V2I connected vehicle pilot program to increase the flow of
    information to freight haulers and will ultimately improve safety along
    I-80. We are looking forward to working with the private sector and
    other DOT's along the I-80 freight corridor to improve safety and
    efficiency through connected vehicle technologies.
                                     ______

       Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
                                Shailen P. Bhatt
        5.9 GHz Spectrum. Mr. Bhatt, 20 years ago the FCC dedicated 75 MHz
    of the 5.9 GHz spectrum for the purposes of developing intelligent
    transportation systems. Emerging vehicle-to-everything technologies
    that communicate over the 5.9 band have the potential to make our
    transportation network safer and save countless lives. Recently, the
    FCC has expressed interest in taking a ``fresh look'' at the 5.9 band
    currently dedicated to transportation safety.
        Question 1. If the 5.9 band were opened up to share with broadband
    streaming services, how might that affect transportation safety?
        Answer. Since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commenced
    its ET Docket 13-49 in 2013, Intelligent Transportation Society of
    America (``ITS America) has supported sharing of the 5.9 GHz band
    between ITS and unlicensed devices provided that such sharing does not
    cause harmful interference to life-saving ITS services.
        ITS America supported the consensus on a three-phase testing
    methodology to be overseen by the FCC's Office of Engineering and
    Technology (OET) arrived at with the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce,
    Science and Transportation's support (See September 9, 2015 letter).
    OET accepted public comments on its Phase 1 Test Report in late 2018.
        ITS America continues its support of the consensus plan for testing
    and the completion of testing by OET to determine whether sharing of
    the 5.9 GHz band is viable. Initiation by the FCC of an ancillary and
    collateral rulemaking bypassing the completion of testing is not in the
    best interests of the public as it will further complicate an already
    uncertain regulatory environment into which many public and private
    parties are investing their scarce resources to develop and deploy
    lifesaving services, unduly tax those resources and delay the
    introduction of those services. We urge instead that OET be provided
    all support necessary to promptly complete its testing of band sharing.
        ITS America agrees with National Highway Traffic Safety
    Administration's (NHTSA) assessment, that the three-phase testing must
    be completed to continue to ensure that this lifesaving technology is
    deployed and that the driving public can have confidence in the
    results. ``The three phases of the test plan are interdependent and
    ongoing, and the testing will show whether unlicensed devices can
    safely operate in the 5.9 GHz band.'' (U.S. Department of
    Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issues
    statement on safety value of 5.9 GHz spectrum, October 24, 2018)

        Question 2. Is it important that we maintain the entire 5.9 band
    for the deployment of transportation safety technologies?
        Answer. ITS America supports prioritizing the entire 5.9 GHz band
    for existing, new, and developing V2X technologies. The entire 5.9 GHz
    Band should be protected and that no decision should be made regarding
    band re-allocation until after the entire three-phase test plan is
    completed. The Commission must allow the completion of the three-phased
    test plan established by the Office of Engineering and Technology
    (``OET'') to determine whether entry by UNII devices into the 5.9 GHz
    Band would cause harmful interference to incumbent licensees.
                                     ______

        Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to
                                Shailen P. Bhatt
        As vehicles increasingly rely on the internet, we must have a
    cybersecurity workforce with the expertise to secure our transportation
    infrastructure. I introduced a bill with Senator Thune to bolster our
    cyber workforce by establishing a public-private exchange program to
    recruit cybersecurity experts in the private sector and academia to do
    tours of duty in the Federal government.
        Question. Can you speak to the need for cybersecurity professionals
    in efforts to secure vehicles that rely on Internet connections from
    cyberattacks?
        Answer. ITS America does not have a specific policy on the need for
    cybersecurity professionals in efforts to secure vehicles that rely on
    Internet connections from cyberattacks.
                                     ______

       Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
                                 Patrick Duffy
        Blockchain in Transportation. Mr. Duffy, your written testimony
    talks about the digitization of outdated analog systems and how the
    deployment of blockchain technologies can enhance trust amongst
    stakeholders, produce resilient data sets, and can lead to efficiencies
    in the transportation sector.
        Question 1. Can you describe what information transportation
    stakeholders are sharing on blockchain platforms and how the technology
    leads to increased trust amongst stakeholders?
        Answer. Transportation stakeholders are sharing a myriad of
    information on blockchain platforms. The types of data being put on
    chain include, but are certainly not limited to: bill of lading;
    booking requests and confirmations; party information; shipment
    information; sea and air waybills; pro-forma invoices and commercial
    invoices; packing lists; shipping instructions; export declarations;
    arrival notices; import declarations; health certificates; driver
    information; phytosanitary certificates; fumigation certificates;
    inspection and customs certificates; certificates of origin; dangerous
    goods declarations; and many other data types. Blockchain and
    distributed ledger technologies when combined with existing and new
    technologies can guarantee immutability and traceability of data
    (supply chain, transportation, trade, and associated documentation), in
    a manner that provides participants to have permissioned access (only
    know what they need to know), in a manner that provides for immediate
    access to information eliminating waiting times and time for
    counterparty actions. These allow for massive efficiencies around
    workflow automation, and the minimization of costly, repetitive, and
    often error-prone manual input.

        Question 2. The efficient movement of freight is critical to our
    economy. How does blockchain lead to efficiencies in the supply chain
    that help goods get to their destination as quickly as possible?
        Answer. Blockchain technology leads to efficiencies in the supply
    chain helping goods get to their destination as quickly as possible by
    creating trust-enhancing, shared, immutable ledgers of data that record
    transactions and tracks assets--whether these are tangible or
    intangible. By working in a tamper-proof environment, blockchain
    platforms for supply chain, transportation, and trade create
    verifiability of data, with provenance and auditability. When utilized
    within a supply chain and transportation ecosystem of stakeholders, and
    combined with data standards, the technology allows for
    interoperability between stakeholders technology stacks leading to the
    reduction in time for processes by sharing high-fidelity data. The
    benefits are being seen across ports and terminal operators, ocean
    carriers, shippers and beneficial cargo owners, freight forwarders and
    3PLs, financial service providers, and regulatory and governmental
    authorities.
                                     ______

       Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
                                 Ann Schlenker
        Smart Cities Challenge. In December 2015, the U.S. Department of
    Transportation (DOT) launched the Smart City Challenge, which asked
    midsized cities to develop technology that would help move people and
    goods more quickly and improve congestion.
        Question 1. Can you discuss the Department of Energy's partnership
    with DOT on the Smart City Challenge and the types of innovation cities
    are deploying?
        Answer. The Department of Energy (DOE) engaged with DOT as the
    program was developed; participated in the many educational sessions
    leading up to the Columbus, Ohio, award; showcased DOE research and
    technology capabilities; and collaborated across the challenges seeking
    solutions. Following the award, DOE embedded a researcher in Columbus,
    to serve as a liaison between the DOE national laboratories' mobility
    expertise and the vast array of partners on the Columbus Smart City
    proposal. The intent was to showcase the research program within the
    DOE's Vehicle Technology Office SMART Mobility Consortia and connect
    and transfer expertise to the cities' mobility priorities. The Columbus
    solution set includes connected and automated shuttle pilots, micro-
    mobility platforms, and first-/last-mile solutions with broader reach
    to residents. Simultaneously, DOE national lab researchers engaged with
    many midsize cities that were nominees to the program. Several of these
    relationships and collaborations continue, and joint work is underway
    across the Nation.
        DOE SMART Mobility program researchers are engaged in active
    studies on many fronts, to understand the benefits, mitigate downsides,
    and share lessons across the ecosystem to improve future deployments.
    Examples of innovations that cities are deploying include (this is a
    non-exhaustive list):

       Smart traffic signal controls that incorporate signal,
            phase, and timing, and even pilot demonstrations--to permit
            vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication and control for
            improved traffic flow;

       Camera and LIDAR sensors installed at intersections--for
            improved situational awareness for V2I, traffic accident
            reduction, and preparation for automated and connected vehicles
            (CAVs);

       Micro-transit pilots and deployments for e-bikes, bike-
            sharing, and scooters--to improve access and equity for
            mobility;

       Dedicated Short Range Communications service installed in
            contained original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and government
            vehicle fleets and production vehicles--to continue down the
            path of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and V2I connectivity, using
            data analytics to glean keen insights;

       First-and last-mile solutions to supplement transit--small
            shuttles and transit network company services are adjunct to
            improve operational efficiency;

       Geo-fenced demonstration of CAV shuttles--to generate
            services and lessons learned, generally in a mobility district
            or dense urban area;

       Real-time mobility information for system users across
            providers--to provide informed movement decisions;

       Seamless payment transactions across providers--to encourage
            multi-modal travel;

       Curb reservation systems--for street management of freight,
            goods delivery, pedestrians, bikes, para-transit,
            transportation network company drop-off, and transit;

       Goods delivery optimization strategies--for spoke and hub
            logistics, and time of day/night delivery;

       Managed and dedicated traffic lanes, and real-time
            messaging--to improve congestion and reduce accidents;

       Electric vehicle infrastructure deployments--for a pathway
            of a low-carbon transportation future;

       Electrification of transit buses--for an environmentally
            sound solution that yields cost parity for total cost of
            ownership;

       Installation of Internet of Things sensors--to collect data
            ranging from environmental parameters, to vehicle and people
            counts, to consumer preference information; and

       Pilots with improved access to services (e.g., healthcare,
            food, education, cultural opportunities, greenspace)--to expand
            mobility to underserved populations and vulnerable road users,
            for improved quality of life.

        Fuel Economy. Your research helped to develop solutions that
    improved air quality and doubled fuel economy as the Clean Air Act was
    being implemented. As you know, fuel economy standards finalized in
    2012 require the U.S. fleet to achieve 54.5 miles per gallon for new
    cars by 2026. Last year, the administration proposed revisiting the
    2012 rulemaking to freeze the 2020 standards through 2026.
        Question 2. Why is it important that the U.S. stay on track to meet
    the fleet average of 54.5 miles per gallon for passenger cars by 2026?
        Answer. This topic is very complex, and many factors must be
    considered to yield a balanced societal solution. As you state,
    tremendous progress has been obtained in air quality and fuel economy
    from the automotive fleet. Year after year, there is significant
    improvement in fuel efficient offerings in the marketplace, coincident
    with lower emissions and the latest safety technologies.
        The DOE continues to focus its research portfolio on energy
    efficiency at the component, vehicle, and system levels. Tremendous
    breakthroughs have been achieved in battery technology, whereby plug-in
    electric vehicles are indeed gaining a market foothold. Lightweight
    materials, improved combustion regimes, gasoline direct-injection
    engines, turbocharging, cylinder deactivation, idle start/stop control
    strategies, and the pathway from hybrids to plug-in hybrids and full
    battery-electric vehicles are examples of technology that continues to
    make fundamental and important progress for improved fuel efficiency
    with a lower environment impact.
        As you know, my employer is the management and operations
    contractor that operates Argonne National Laboratory for the DOE. As
    such, we assist DOE by providing technical support in furthering its
    research objectives as regards fuel efficiency, but it is not our role
    to determine or debate the appropriate governmental policy in that
    area. Appropriately, public hearings, rulemaking proceedings, and open
    dockets permit policymakers to consider the many voices on this complex
    topic.

        Question 3. What are some of the consequences of scaling back fuel
    economy standards?
        Answer. Argonne National Laboratory has a vast transportation
    research program that addresses topics that include combustion engines
    and fuels, electrification, propulsion system optimization, and the
    creation of sophisticated product-development tools that permit virtual
    engineering, which allows developers to speed technology and products
    to the market. We participate in the full pipeline from innovation and
    discovery to deployment of technology and knowledge for light duty and
    medium/heavy-duty vehicles. The national laboratories work with nearly
    all vehicle manufacturers and key suppliers, to deliver joint research
    that benefits all parties. This pairing provides direct knowledge of
    customer challenges, a matching of research expertise, and
    collaborating teams to develop advances in fuel efficiency and emission
    reductions.
        As you know, my employer is the management and operations
    contractor that operates Argonne National Laboratory for the DOE. As
    such, we assist DOE by providing technical support in furthering its
    research objectives as regards fuel efficiency, but it is not our role
    to determine or debate the appropriate governmental policy in that
    area. Appropriately, public hearings, rulemaking proceedings, and open
    dockets permit policymakers to consider the many voices on this complex
    topic.

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