This piece was originally published in the December 2018 issue of electroindustry.

Photo caption | NEMA’s Transportation Division, guests, and staff visited Capitol Hill September 26. They included (from the left) Robert Le Sueur, Sensys Networks; Craig Updyke, NEMA; Bryan Mulligan, Applied Information; Jan Bergstrom, Miovision; Joseph Dudich, Eberle Design; Steve Griffith, NEMA; Philip Squair, NEMA. Not pictured are Asaf Nagler, ABB; Jason Morrison, Daktronics; and Eric Raamot, Econolite. Photo by Capitol Police Department

Craig Updyke, Director, Trade and Commercial Affairs

Members and guests of NEMA’s Transportation Division steered their way through a series of outreach meetings in Washington, D.C., on September 26, that began and concluded on Capitol Hill. After opening the trip with a visit to the local office of the National Safety Council to discuss roadway safety initiatives, the group met with Republican staff for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), which shares legislative and oversight responsibility for highway and infrastructure initiatives, including deployment of traffic management and control systems, known as Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), and electric vehicle supply equipment.

In the afternoon, the group traveled to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) headquarters to meet with Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Finch Fulton. Discussion topics included emerging DOT policy on connected and autonomous vehicles (CAV) and the role of private-sector Standards. Upon returning to Capitol Hill, the group met with staff for Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Republican staff for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which has responsibility for legislation and oversight on roadway safety and testing of automated vehicles. In closing, the group met with the transportation staff member for the Senate Republican Policy Committee, chaired by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), to discuss local deployments of ITS and possible improvements to contracting for transportation infrastructure.

NEMA Member companies represented in the group were ABB, Daktronics, Eberle Design, and Miovision Technologies. Sensys Networks and Econolite participated as guests and prospective members.