Year in Review: Anthony Foxx, the Great Connector
Date Posted: December 29, 2016
Posted In: Discussion,
From CityLab: When Secretary Anthony Foxx took the reins at the U.S. Department of Transportation in June 2013, autonomous vehicles were just picking up pace. Google dominated software development with their rigged-Prius models. Traditional carmakers were unveiling futuristic prototypes left and right. A ride-sharing startup called Uber had just promised to pick up a 2,500-car AV fleet… from Google (my, how times have changed). Meanwhile, the feds had scarcely made a peep about whether driving these vehicles was legal.
Foxx brought DOT to the table. Working closely with industry innovators, his agency devised the world’s first national AV safety policy—a comprehensive guidance that earned praise for its flexibility as technology keeps up its breakneck speed. Foxx, formerly the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, also looped cities into the conversation about 21st-century mobility: The $50 million Smart Cities Challenge fostered a national network of local leaders exchanging tactics to transport citizens through tech-ified, data-driven means. Through it all, Foxx’s administration has held a remarkably frank discussion on how the DOT cemented economic and racial disadvantage through historic infrastructure policies—and the agency has taken action to tear down those walls as the future presses on.
It’s anyone’s best guess how the incoming DOT Secretary, Elaine Chao, will steward these conversations or preside over technology’s leaps. Some progress may be undone. But Foxx has connected dots that are unlikely to be pulled apart: industry to government, city leaders to empowered citizens. At the end of a remarkable tenure, the Secretary reflects on the achievements and challenges that have defined his time in the President’s cabinet, as well as his own road ahead.
Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, Secretary Foxx. It’s an honor and a pleasure. How is the transition going at DOT?
We’re still cranking away. We’ve still got things we want to do, and working hard to make sure all those things happen.
Like what?
I have to surprise you a little bit, don’t I? OK, to give you a hint, there is still active work happening on the drone rules, which will cover flight over people. We’ve laid out a plan to create some national test centers for automated vehicles. We’ve got an automation federal advisory committee to lay out and announce. So we have plenty to get done over the next several weeks.