An Overview of Transportation R&D: Priorities for Reauthorization
Opening Statement By Chairman David Wu
I want to welcome everyone to the Technology and Innovation Subcommittee’s first hearing of the 111th Congress. This Subcommittee was very productive in the 110th, moving the Small Business Innovation Research program reauthorization, green transportation legislation, the 10,000 Trained by 2010 health information technology education legislation, the U.S. Fire Administration reauthorization, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology portion of the COMPETES Act. I am certain we can maintain this pace in the 111th Congress.
Our first hearing focuses on surface transportation research and development programs, in preparation for the surface transportation reauthorization bill. I can think of no more appropriate topic for this subcommittee to begin with, as Congress debates an economic stimulus package that contains $35 billion for surface transportation projects. As we commence this major infrastructure initiative, we all agree that we should deploy the most recent and proven surface transportation technologies to ensure we’re building the highways of the future, not the highways of the past.
Today’s hearing is an overview and assessment of our current R&D investments. This will be the first in a series of hearings as the Subcommittee develops a surface transportation title that will later be incorporated into the comprehensive surface transportation bill.
In reviewing some of the Transportation Research Board’s recent assessments of our surface transportation investments, I have been disappointed by their recommendations that focus on increased funding as the means to overcome the challenges they identify, including slow technology transfer and a lack of clear national priorities in DOT’s R&D spending. I don’t think more money is a practical or realistic recommendation in our current economic environment.
What I hope to learn today, and in this series of hearings, is how to make our federal investments in surface transportation R&D as effective and efficient as possible in overcoming the challenges of congestion mitigation and its impact on the environment.
I want to thank our panel of witnesses for taking the time from their busy schedules to appear for us today.
And now I would like to recognize Representative Smith for his opening statement.
Witnesses
Panel
0 - Hon. Paul Brubaker
former Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation
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0 - Dr. Elizabeth Deakin
Director of the University of California Transportation Center University of California, Berkeley (UCB) University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
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0 - Mr. Robert Skinner
Executive Director Transportation Research Board Transportation Research Board
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0 - Mr. David Wise
Acting Director of Physical Infrastructure Issues Government Accountability Office (GAO) Government Accountability Office (GAO)
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0 - Mr. Amadeo Saenz
Director Texas Department of Transportation Texas Department of Transportation
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