FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT
Alexander Laska
publicaffairs@enotrans.org
202-879-4700
Washington, D.C. – The Eno Center for Transportation – with the financial assistance of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation – is launching a multi-stage research and recommendation project focused on the economic, environmental, safety, and health impacts of emerging advancements in metropolitan transportation. The program entitled “Digital Cities: How Technology is Changing Transportation and How Public Policy Should Respond” will create a stakeholder advisory group, host a public discussion forum, conduct regional case study research, produce a comprehensive report, and ultimately create a set of actionable findings and policy recommendations.
As technology is changing the way we use and develop new means of transportation in the United States, public policy and the nation’s infrastructure are struggling to keep up. From the growth of bike- and ride-share companies to the emergence of on-demand services to the promise of commercially-available autonomous vehicles in the not-too-distant future, much needs to be done to bring investments and regulations up to speed with modern mobility.
“We uniquely are positioned to spearhead this work, given our experience conducting in-depth transportation research and our neutral, non-partisan stance,” said Eno President and CEO Joshua Schank. “The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s financial support will allow us to evaluate all possible public policy solutions and maximize the benefits of technology and transportation integration in a thorough and meaningful way.”
As the project advances, Eno Center for Transportation plans to sponsor an app competition and award four $10,000 development grants to selected winners in four cities. The advisory group will be in charge of choosing the winners and will be looking for app ideas designed to expedite suggested policy goals. Based on the outcomes of the first phase of this work, a one-day peer exchange workshop will allow collaboration between public sector Chief Information Officers and private mobile app producers so as to foster greater public and private collaboration. Other aspects of the program will be developed as the Digital Cities project progresses.
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The Eno Center for Transportation is a neutral, non-partisan think-tank that promotes policy innovation and provides professional development opportunities across the career span of transportation professionals. For more information, please visit www.enotrans.org.