The Once and Future State DOT: An Identity Crisis
Chapter Host: Washington, D.C | April 14, 2021 | 64 minutes
The traditional components of the vehicle Highway system structuring Highway transportation are undergoing radical and rapid change. The source of improvements in mobility and safety now lies primarily within private sector vehicle-related technology initiatives such as connected and automated vehicles and related business models – not in the tradition state DOT mission of infrastructure expansion. This reality is accompanied by continuing trend of devolution of previous federal responsibilities and increases in the pressure on state DOTs for operational performance. Taken together, fulfilling traditional state DOT missions will require fundamental shifts in state DOT programs and instrumentalities — supported by a new institutional configuration. The 21st Century State DOT will be focused on delivery of real-time performance-based operational service, delivered by a small staff with specialized technical expertise and new instrumentalities to manage a substantially outsourced program through a range of partnerships – both public and private.
Our speaker, Steve Lockwood, specializes in transportation institutional engineering — focused on the intersection of policy, technology and organizational development. He has 50 years of experience in supporting FHWA, state and regional transportation agencies dealing with their changing policy, program, and institutional environment. Prior to establishing his own consultancy, he served for 20 years as Senior Vice President of Parsons Brinckerhoff/WSP. He recently developed and applied “capability maturity analysis” to a wide range of state DOTs regarding their ability to deal with new missions and technology.