With just six days to go until Road User Charging Conference Americas 2021, CiTTi meets speaker Blaine Leonard, transportation technology engineer at Utah Department of Transportation.
Taking place on 10-11 March 2021 via Zoom, Road User Charging Conference Americas 2021 will bring together 27 senior-level speakers from Peru, Chile, Brazil, Jamaica, Canada and across the USA to share insight on the latest tolling technologies, road pricing projects and intelligent transport systems being implemented throughout the Americas.
Name: Blaine Leonard
Job Role: Transportation Technology Engineer
What is the best thing about your job?
I love looking to the future and figuring out how new technologies can improve what we do. My job gives me a fair amount of flexibility to envision, evaluate, and implement some of these technologies, specifically connected and automated vehicles. I believe these new vehicles will save lives.
What is the biggest challenge facing those with responsibility for intelligent transportation systems and tolling/road pricing in 2021?
We are challenged by our traditional momentum. Both as operators of transportation systems, and users of those systems, we are comfortable with how we have been doing things, even if we know those processes and habits have flaws. Overcoming that momentum, moving away from what we know, accepting new approaches, and trusting new technologies is a barrier. We don’t trust what we don’t understand, and we can’t measure what we haven’t done yet. As engineers, as policymakers and regulators, as planners, as citizens using the transportation system, we need to take some risk and move into the future.
What’s your best piece of advice for those looking to implement connected and autonomous vehicle projects?
Don’t wait for others to get it all figured out, jump in and help create the solutions. Work to understand the state of the art right now, find some tangible things that you can test, pilot, or deploy on a small scale, and contribute to the national conversation. We can move these changes forward more effectively if we all participate.
Does legislation help or hinder development in the sector?
Legislation has the power to be both helpful and harmful. Legislation can provide permissions that we need, authorisations for funding and testing, consistent definitions and frameworks, and appropriate constraints to protect all of the participants. For instance, in Utah, our legislature tasked our department with developing a RUC pilot, giving us both the authority and the impetus to move forward. They also modified our statutes to allow truck platooning and permit automated vehicles to operate on our roadways.
Legislation can also provide barriers, sometimes unintentionally. Data privacy, for instance, is an area where we need to find a suitable middle ground. Legislation often seeks to protect data and personal privacy in law enforcement, healthcare or telecommunications, but broad language can hinder, without that intent, our ability to use anonymous data to improve transportation or put wireless tolling systems into operation. Burdensome regulations can also stifle creativity and prevent useful testing or piloting of new systems.
Why are you looking forward to speaking at Road User Charging Conference Americas 2021?
I always enjoy talking about new technologies in transportation, describing what I think the future holds for us, and outlining some of the things we are learning in Utah as we move toward that future.
At the conference you’ll also be able to hear from LA Metro, Cubic Transportation Systems, Mileage Based User Fee Alliance, the Eastern Transportation Coalition, IBTTA… and more! You can view the full agenda here. All times for Day 1 are shown in PST (GMT-8) and for Day 2 are shown in EST (GMT-5). All sessions will be available after the conference on-demand.
The two-day Road User Charging Conference Americas on 10 and 11 March 2021 is the perfect platform for senior decision-makers who have responsibility for tolling, intelligent transportation systems and road pricing to network and learn from experts in their field. To find out more go to: www.roaduserchargingconference.co.uk/ruc-americas.
For partnership enquiries, please contact Robert Gouge at robert.gouge@akabomedia.co.uk or by calling +44 (0) 20 8065 0465. For speaking opportunities, please contact Claudia Davidson at claudia.davidson@akabomedia.co.uk or by calling +44 (0) 20 8037 1777.
Meet some of our other speakers at Road User Charging Conference Americas 2021…
- Maureen Bock, chief innovation officer, OReGO
- Steve Morello, partner, Milestone Solutions
- Tyler Milligan, partner, Milligan Associates
- Lauren Prehoda, road user charging program manager, California Department of Transport (Caltrans)
- Freddy Naranjo, assistant bureau chief – quality control, at the Alabama Department of Transportation
- Tanya Bedward, senior director, transport policy (international and land), Jamaican Ministry of Transport and Mining
