Everything must change. The world changes, times change and
people change.
Sometime during the course of 2001, Neil D. Schuster decided it was time for a change. After spending 16 years with the International Bridge, Tunnel & Turnpike Association, Schuster elected to bid farewell to IBTTA and begin anew as president and CEO of ITS America.
Transportation Management + Engineering recently interviewed Schuster to find out what changes he may have in store for ITS America in 2002 and beyond.
You spent 16 years with the International Bridge, Tunnel
& Turnpike Association before you took the position of president and CEO of
ITS America. Why did you decide to take the ITS America job?
I thoroughly enjoyed my years with IBTTA and leaving the
toll industry did not come easily. However, I was drawn to ITS America by the
opportunity to work more closely with the leaders in government, industry and
academia who are shaping the future role of intelligent transportation
technology. It is an honor to work with them and a pleasure to work with the
ITS America staff, a dedicated team of professionals who truly care about the
society and its contributions.
How has the transition from IBTTA to ITS America been?
IBTTA was one of the first members to join ITS America when
it was formed more than 10 years ago, and I had the pleasure of serving on the
ITS America board for the first few years. I also witnessed the toll
industry’s growing focus on electronic toll collection and technology
over the past decade. These experiences certainly make the transition much
easier.
The toll industry’s public-private approach to
management, operations and the introduction of technology also has prepared me
for the challenge of enhancing the unique role ITS America plays—as a
forum that brings together public and private interests to advance technology.
My first few months at ITS America have been exciting and
rewarding. I am working with quite a few colleagues and friends of many years
and our members and staff have made me feel very welcome and at home.
What experiences from IBTTA will you carry over to ITS
America?
My time at IBTTA taught me the value of creating a dialogue
with members that leads to shared goals, the need to give all interests within
the organization equal consideration in shaping its future and the importance
of articulating and maintaining a long-term vision.
At IBTTA, I watched technology transform the toll industry.
It makes possible—and also requires—a customer-focused approach,
places greater emphasis on marketing and brand development and allows
government and industry to establish stronger alliances.
I see many of these elements at ITS America. In reaching out
to our leadership and members, I have discovered a wealth of experience and
vision.
ITS has many faces and many champions, but it is hard not to
notice the common thread of enthusiasm our members share about the future.
In your role as president and CEO, what direction will you
take ITS America? What issues and topics (e.g. traffic congestion, incident
management, transportation security) do you feel need to be addressed
immediately?
Homeland security was not a phrase in our vocabulary when I
first considered joining ITS America. It has quickly become one of our most
urgent national priorities and currently dominates the transportation agenda.
Technology is key to meeting our new need for effective disaster prevention and
response and to our long-standing goal of improving incident management and
transportation efficiency and safety.
We are working to ensure that partners critical to security
are at the table when we discuss the ITS role in security, including the
stakeholders in-volved in our Public Safety Advisory Group and others.
The security issues surfaced at the same time the U.S. DOT
and state and local governments are crafting a performance-based
outcome-oriented operations approach to transportation management. And, we are
entering a transportation reauthorization cycle, during which policy-makers and
legislators will define our future transportation program.
Against this backdrop, we completed our 10-Year National ITS
Program Plan, a year-long effort by a large number of ITS America member
volunteers to advise U.S. DOT on the future of transportation technology and
how it can be realized.
We are on the threshold of a sea change in how we provide
and consume transportation and how we collect and use data and information.
Technology deployment and innovative institutional arrangements are critical to
completing what will be perhaps the first paradigm shift in national
transportation policy since the creation of the Interstate Highway System.
ITS will enable us to meet future transportation needs and
ITS America will enable the necessary institutional arrangements.
ITS America’s National ITS Program Plan: A 10-Year
Vision was recently released at the Transportation Research Board Annual
Meeting. What effect may this document have when addressing funding for ITS in
the next six-year federal transportation budget which begins in 2003?
In compelling and convincing terms, our 10-Year ITS Program
Plan argues for a coordinated systems approach to future ITS deployment. Our
plan offers ways to improve transportation and outlines some of the research
and other needs that make it possible to realize ITS goals. And we propose the
creation of an integrated network of transportation information to ensure the
safety, security and efficiency of our transportation networks.
The themes and proposals in our Program Plan will help frame
the policy and legislative debate to create the successor to TEA-21.
The ITS America Annual Meeting is scheduled for April
29-May 2 in Long Beach, Calif. In what way will transportation security be
addressed at the Annual Meeting? Will there be a subject track dedicated to
transportation security or, perhaps, a megasession or workshop?
We selected “Securing Our Future” as the theme
of our 2002 Annual Meeting well before the incidents of September 11. With the
shift in focus since then, we are revising our program to ensure that our
conference devotes sufficient attention to security issues and facilitates a
meaningful discussion of issues relating to meeting our transportation security
needs.
One megasession, in fact, is entitled “ITS and
Homeland Security.” And our keynote speaker, Sandy Berger, who served as
national security advisor to President Clinton, will be addressing
transportation technology issues from a security perspective.
The Annual Meeting will not be our only security forum. We
are considering other settings, some of which will be events hosted by our
state chapters, for raising awareness of ITS technologies.
More than 150 technology providers will exhibit products and
services during our exhibition in Long Beach. I know many of these products and
services have transportation security applications, allowing our annual meeting
to showcase state-of-the-art technologies for disaster prevention and response.
At last year’s ITS America Annual Meeting, the
automobile manufacturers were noticeably absent. Will they be exhibiting this
year?
You will see motor vehicles at our trade show, brought by
companies that develop and supply in-vehicle ITS systems. It makes sense that
these suppliers exhibit vehicles, since our show focuses on ITS products and
services.
Traffic congestion is no longer confined to major urban
arteries. It has spilled over to arterial streets. What role does ITS America
play in helping to relieve this congestion?
ITS America is actively engaged in efforts to improve
transportation at all levels. The national operations dialogue, which we
support and participate in on a regular basis, promotes information sharing and
cooperation between state and local governments and other transportation
providers. This approach will ensure that ITS technologies cover major roads,
arterial streets and public transportation systems. It also will ensure that
urban and rural transportation systems are incorporated into the process.
Within the last decade or so, ITS was considered a
secondary means to im-prove traffic flow on existing roads. Do you think that
ITS has come to the forefront in the design process of new roads and, if so,
how?
ITS contributions to mobility, efficiency and safety have
been documented. Integrated ITS systems that allow technologies to operate in a
seamless fashion across transportation modes will yield even greater benefits
and will become a more compelling reason to include ITS in new roads and new
transit systems.
The cost-benefit of ITS investments clearly points to the
need to include ITS capabilities in transportation design.
What can the transportation community expect from ITS
America in 2002?
Our biggest challenge is to continue to be the first place
our members come to learn about ITS developments and discuss ITS issues. To do
that, we must continue to provide value that exceeds the time, effort and
resources our members invest in ITS America.
We are looking at improving the content and design of our
website, already the No. 1 ITS destination on the Internet, to deliver
information in a more timely and targeted manner.
In addition to what is shaping up to be a banner Annual
Meeting in Long Beach, Calif., at the end of April, ITS America will host the
ITS World Congress in Chicago this fall. I know it will be equally successful,
in terms of its program and exhibition.
We are reviewing the structure of our Coordinating Council,
to ensure that we effectively engage volunteers in managing our technical activities.
Also, we will improve our linkage to ITS America state chapters.
Internally, we will add a senior staff member this year to
focus on business and trade opportunities for our private sector members and to
explore business models that accelerate ITS system deployment. We are
re-examining our processes to ensure that we meet the challenges ahead.
Because many of these efforts are crosscutting in nature,
our internal communications and inter-department teamwork are critical. We will
devote more attention to strategic planning, a process that involves our
leaders working in collaboration with each other and with staff.
Finally, I plan to reach out to as many of our leaders,
state chapters, members, stakeholders and international partners as possible. Our
future lies in continuing to serve all our interests in a fair and balanced
way, and I am committed to developing a future vision that ensures the growth
and success of ITS America’s members and the industry we serve. TME
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