ITS America set public policy mission, senior leadership team

ITS America, an advocate for the technological modernization of U.S. transportation systems, announced a new public policy-focused mission and aligned professional leadership team.

“ITS America has rallied together behind this public policy mission at a critical time when the rubber is literally hitting the road for intelligent transportation,” said ITS America President/CEO Regina Hopper. “Our collective focus on public-private collaboration to advance and accelerate the deployment of intelligent transportation solutions at scale is a unifying rallying cry of broad importance to the nation.”

The move follows an extensive re-visioning process across the ITS America membership — which represent interests and expertise from private companies, leading public research, and academic institutions, as well as state and city DOT leaders.

Consistent with this new mission, ITS America released a public policy roadmap, which is being widely shared across the new administration and Congress. Among its top priorities, the plan emphasizes support for new and long-term funding and financing for tech-driven transportation infrastructure; tax reform to restore solvency to the Highway Trust Fund; and funding and financing in President Trump’s call to increase investments in vehicle-to-infrastructure mobility and safety applications.

To execute on the mission, ITS America also announced its new senior leadership team:

• Steve Bayless-VP, Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy — A veteran of the ITS America technical programs group, Bayless has been promoted to his new role. He has been instrumental in fashioning the arguments around key regulatory filings and will now lead these efforts.

•  Jason Goldman-VP, External Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement — New to ITS America, Goldman will focus on building coalitions and reaching out to third party stakeholders to advance ITS America’s public policy agenda. He previously served at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he was the business group’s primary advocate and expert on Internet-related issues.

• Ron Thaniel-VP, Legislative Affairs — Hired to lead ITS America’s Capitol Hill efforts, Thaniel is a nationally recognized urban transportation expert who previously served as Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s deputy transportation secretary and held leadership positions at the National Association of City Transportation Officials and the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

• Jeff Davis-Sr. VP, Membership and Business Development — Formerly of Homeland Security Solutions, Davis will focus on expanding business opportunities with federal departments and agencies as well as recruiting and retaining a diverse membership that reflects the broad, evolving ITS community.

• Mike Land-VP, Programs — Land will manage ITS America’s government contract work and expand these efforts through various government agencies involved with transportation tech. Land spent the last 10 years procuring and managing government contracts across various federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense.

• Dan Ronan-VP, Strategic Communications — Ronan will serve as chief spokesperson for ITS America’s advocacy positions, creating and executing strategic content across traditional, social and digital media. Dan previously served as an award-winning journalist for CNN and as Manager of Public Relations and Community Affairs at AAA-Texas/New Mexico.