WASHINGTON, DC, April 11, 2008 – The Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration would like input from our stakeholders and the general public regarding the future strategic direction of the ITS Joint Program Office. Over the past 8 months, the ITS Joint Program Office has been engaged in a detailed examination and evaluation of the ITS JPO's research program. We have solicited extensive input from our staff, modal partners within the Department, and the ITS Program Advisory Committee regarding the Program's mission, goals, focus areas, and role. We are now reaching out for additional input. We have posted below current drafts of what we have developed, and are seeking comments on our mission statement, four proposed goal areas (Mobility, Safety, the Environment, and 21st Century Institutions and Partnerships), and five focus areas within those goals:

• ITS JPO Mission: To lead the creation and demonstration of intelligent technology solutions to achieve the safest and best performing surface transportation system in the world
  • Mobility: Real time information on all roads and for all modes, http://www.its.dot.gov/program_goals/real_time.htm
  • Mobility: One integrated payment system for all modes and employed at all times, http://www.its.dot.gov/program_goals/integrated_payment.htm
  • Safety: A networked, intelligent vehicle with capability of all vehicles to have 360-degree awareness of hazards and communicate appropriately with drivers, http://www.its.dot.gov/program_goals/safety.htm
  • Environment: Better understand and document the improvements an ITS-enhanced multimodal transportation system makes on the environment, http://www.its.dot.gov/program_goals/enviroment.htm
  • 21st Century Institutions and Partnerships: Institutional and policy research to support the elimination of ITS implementation barriers and enhance the use of ITS for system performance management, http://www.its.dot.gov/program_goals/21centrury.htm

We would like you to address one or more areas of interest to your organization, and review the materials with these questions in mind:

• Should the mission statement remain as is or be strengthened/changed?
• Are these the right goal and focus areas for the ITS JPO?
  • Do the mission and goals rise to the challenges of the next ten years?
  • Are the goals and focus areas feasible (financially, politically, literally)?
  • Do the goals and focus areas represent what the ITS JPO does best?
• Is there a clear federal and ITS JPO role in each of the goal and focus areas? What might the role be?
• Would you add or remove any of the goals and/or focus areas? If so, why?

We would very much appreciate your comments and opinions. We would ask that, if at all possible, your organization submit one single comprehensive set of comments from one source for ease of analysis. We also ask that you provide your name, title, and affiliation with your comment submission.

Finally, we would also ask that any comments be received by us no later than April 23, 2008. Please send comments to JPO.Director@dot.gov.

Thank you in advance for your time and effort. The ITS Joint Program Office looks forward to hearing from you.