AASHTO Journal, 26 August 2016
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine named Michigan Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle to a committee that will study the future of the U.S. interstate highway system.
SteudleSteudle is the only current CEO of a state transportation agency on that 14-member panel. Other members include former U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta; Joan McDonald, former commissioner of the New York State DOT; and Keith Killough, director of transportation systems analysis at the Arizona DOT.
Members have backgrounds in transportation policy and planning, travel demand, highway construction and operations, traffic safety, modeling, environmental and community impact mitigation, economic development, supply chains and goods movement, funding, multimodal transportation and advanced vehicle technologies.
“As called for in the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act of 2015, our study will be addressing what actions are necessary to upgrade and restore the nation’s interstate highway system,” said Neil Pedersen, executive director of the Transportation Research Board, a program of the National Academies.
Pedersen said the committee “will consult with national experts, operators and users of the interstate system, and private sector stakeholders as it addresses its task and recommends ways to ensure we have a premier system that meets the growing and shifting demands of the 21st century. We appreciate Director Steudle bringing his expertise and insights to this important study.”
The committee will develop a report over the course of its 30-month project, the TRB said. During the first 20 months of study it will meet regularly to hear from key groups.
Steudle said: “”It will be a pleasure to serve with this talented group of people to help shape the future of the interstate system” He added that with Michigan’s “strong background in the automotive industry, we also can bring to the table the future of autonomous vehicles and its impact on our nation’s highways, among other things.”
Steudle was a past chair of the TRB Executive Committee and is the 2015 recipient of the TRB’s W.N. Carey Jr. Distinguished Service Award.