IN FOCUS
by Matthew W. Daus, Esq. President, International Association of Transportation Regulators Distinguished Lecturer, University Transportation Research Center, Region 2 Contact: mdaus@windelsmarx.com 156 West 56th Street, New York, NY 10019 T. 212.237.1106 • F. 212.262.1215

<

On November 20, 2015, the United States Department of Transportation's University Transportation Research Center (UTRC) of The City College of New York and the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) held another successful transportation technology symposium. The City University of New York (CUNY) started this unique annual educational program three years ago through a partnership with Hunter College and City College's UTRC (for Region 2 - NY, NJ and Puerto Rico).

As a Distinguished Lecturer at CUNY, I was asked to deliver the keynote address at this first version of the 2013 event held at the Roosevelt House at Hunter College. The event was coordinated by Professor Hongmian Gong. I was immediately captured and excited about the small but mixed group of academics, government practitioners and big data enthusiasts, so much so that I have been involved as event Chair ever since assisting in significantly increasing participation in this annual conference.

For the last two summits, we shifted to a more spacious venue provided by our gracious hosts at NYIT, namely NYIT President & CEO Edward Guiliano and NYIT Engineering and Computer Sciences Dean, Dr. Nada Marie Anid. Our 2014 program was centered on "Big Data and Innovative Solutions for Safe, Efficient and Sustainable Mobility," and the keynote speaker was the then newly appointed Commissioner of the NYC Mayor's Office of Data Analytics, Dr. Amen Ra Mashariki. The link to the event and proceedings of the 2014 summit can be viewed at: http://www.utrc2.org/events/ground-transportation-technology-symposium.

The 3rd Annual UTRC/NYIT Transportation Technology Summit included numerous panels and presentations by academics, private and public sector practitioners, including government transportation professionals from every relevant agency, including NYMTC, the MTA, State and City DOT, the TLC, the Port Authority, the NYC Mayor's Office and representatives from over a dozen universities.

This past year, the summit was held as an all day event at NYIT on November 20, 2015, and the theme or focus was, "Innovative Mobility Solutions." The summit galvanized a large gathering of leading experts, academics, government practitioners, industry stakeholders, and transportation advocates.

Speakers and attendees from every major regional university and government transportation agency were in attendance, including the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New Jersey and New York State Departments of Transportation (DOTs), the NYC Mayor's Office and the NYC Department of Transportation, the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission, the NY State Energy Research and Development Agency, and many others.

Our sponsors included NYIT, UTRC, the law firm of Windels Marx and the International Association of Transportation Regulators. Our conference partners included the NJ and NY State DOTs and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council (NYMTC). The videos, photos, presentations and program for the 2015 summit can be viewed at: http://www.utrc2.org/events/transportation-technology-symposium-innovative-mobility-solutions.

Introductory remarks were delivered by NYC Council Transportation Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez,who, among other initiatives, announced the first ever "Car Free Day" in NYC. Chair Rodriguez also delivered a clear message that transportation network companies must continue to follow the same exact rules as taxicabs and for-hire vehicle companies in NYC.

Commissioner Victor Calise of the NYC Mayor's Office of People with Disabilities delivered a speech that focused on how the city is using technology to enhance transportation options for people with disabilities, including his announcement that NYC is developing its own smartphone transportation application for disabled passengers.

Closing keynote remarks were delivered by NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg who spoke extensively about her experience with transportation data during her tenure at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and her current use of data by NYC for a variety of purposes, including Vision Zero. Commissioner Trottenberg also announced the award of funding to conduct a connected vehicles pilot program in NYC.

Left to right: Transport Tech speakers NYC Council Transportation Committee Chair Ydanis Rodriguez and NYC Mayor's Office of People with Disabilities Commissioner Victor Calise, join Distinguished Lecturer Matthew Daus, NYIT Engineering/Computer Sciences Dean Dr. Nada Marie Anid and UTRC Director Dr. Camille Kamga.

Transport Technology Summit keynote speaker, NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg (center), is joined by, (left to right), former NYC Taxi & Limousine Commissioner Matthew Daus, NY Institute of Technology Engineering & Computer Sciences Dean Dr. Nada Marie Anid, UTRC Director Dr. Camille Kamga and NYIT CEO & President Edward Guiliano.

The educational program started with Innovative Traffic Management Solutions (Session 1), with UTRC founder and Distinguished Professor

Dr. Robert E. ("Buzz") Paaswell moderating presentations on traffic signal priority and corridor management case studies. He also moderated presentations on bridge obsolescence probe data performance management and ITS systems engineering.

Thereafter, several breakout sessions were held throughout the day covering the following topics:

• Big Data Transportation Data Analysis (Session 2);

• GPS Smartphone Technology Applications (Session 3);

• Safety & Mobility Data (Session 4);

• Vehicle Technology Applications (Session 5);

• Transportation Simulation, Modeling & Analysis (Session 6); and

• Security & Privacy (Session 7).

Also, poster sessions presented a variety of papers by academics and students, including the following topics:

• integrated mobile ticketing;

• car sharing;

• transit oriented development;

• traffic signal priority programs; and

• vehicle to grid communications.

• The last session was a very lively panel discussion on For Hire Ground Transportation Technology Development (Session 8), which included:

• Representatives from BYD Motors (an electric vehicle manufacturer),

• VeriFone (a credit card/GPS/smartphone app provider for taxicabs),

• Karhoo (a new for hire vehicle aggregator service) and

• DataTrack247 (a NYC TLC authorized black box software company involved in the Vision Zero program.

The panelists provided input and thoughts on the future of the ground transportation industry from a business and technology standpoint, and engaged in a lively question and answer session with one another and the audience.

Many thanks go to the summit organizing committee, including UTRC Director Dr. Camille Kamga, Professor Hongmian Gong of Hunter College, NYIT Director of Strategic Partnerships Marta Panero, UTRC Assistant Director Nadia Aslam and UTRC Associate Director Penny Eickemeyer. The committee worked tirelessly to sift through, read and analyze a tremendous number of papers and abstracts to help coordinate, plan and populate the program with selected speakers.

It is clear that these annual summits present a continuing and rapidly expanding brain trust where technology continues to bring the transportation world closer together. While "Big Data" keeps getting bigger, with data sets continuing to expand, the interplay and relationships between previously unrelated industries that are part of and on the periphery of the mobility network are converging.

Smartphone app disruption has caused interplay between:

• Silicon Valley data mining interests,

• logistics and messenger services,

• automotive data collection,

• automated and connected vehicles, and

• vehicle leasing companies.

Also, technology continues to help achieve the goals of:

• "efficiency" (e.g., by saving money and time for consumers);

• "safety and security" (e.g., via connected vehicles and Vision Zero initiatives);

• "sustainability" (e.g., bike sharing and parking technology); and

• "accessibility" (e.g., dispatch systems for paratransit).

Transportation technology also marries vehicles through on board diagnostics systems, with passengers via smartphone apps and infrastructure via traffic lights and red light/speed cameras.

Our annual summit also has created an intellectually and pragmatically robust marriage between all transportation technology stakeholders, including academics and students (our future leaders), private industry and companies, as well as government officials across the transportation spectrum. We look forward to continuing these annual events, and to both expanding our world of data while at the same time bringing even more transportation thinkers and practitioners closer together for many years to come.

Every year, UTRC publishes an annual report comprehensively detailing the previous fiscal year's research, education, and technology transfer activities. The 2013 Annual Report highlights events that we hosted and co-hosted, including seminars, workshops, symposiums, summits, and conferences. With funding from our local transportation agency-partners, we successfully completed and disseminated final reports of completed research projects. Further, we proudly awarded scholarships to 14 students by providing financial support towards their education and professional development.

For a more detailed look at our activities read the 2015 Annual Report, or read the reports from previous years below.