The U.S. DOT Volpe Center welcomed U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on December 14, 2022. The Secretary challenged us to be “thoughtful, fact-driven, and imaginative,” while contending with new and distinctive transportation challenges during a standing-room-only Town Hall with U.S. DOT Volpe Center and U.S. DOT Region 1 staff. Robert C. Hampshire, PhD, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology and Chief Science Officer, U.S. DOT, welcomed the Secretary, and Anne Aylward, U.S. DOT Volpe Center Director, moderated the event. NHTSA Acting Administrator Ann Carlson was also in attendance.
“The moment that we’re in right now… is one of unprecedented opportunity and unprecedented challenge,” said the Secretary. “We are faced with…the most multiple and sustained set of problems and disruptions to transportation since the founding of the Center, or even the Department. It’s also the case…that right now, we see this extraordinary moment opening up in front of us with the most resources ever being made available for federal investment in transportation since the founding of this Department and this Center.”
Secretary Buttigieg fielded questions on a range of topics related to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, safety, transportation modernization, innovation, and the role of transportation in enabling wealth creation in underserved communities and project delivery.
The Secretary visited our NextGen and Global Maritime Domain Awareness Laboratories to discuss work underway to improve the safety and efficiency of the National Airspace System, Advanced Air Mobility, and recent advancements in maritime domain awareness systems used by 80 nations.
Secretary Buttigieg toured the new U.S. DOT Volpe Center facility, currently under construction and scheduled to open in fall 2023.
The Secretary’s visit culminated in a tour of the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s new facility at 220 Binney Street in Kendall Square designed to enhance innovation, collaboration, and flexibility, enabling U.S. DOT to embrace the emerging transportation needs of the future.
Secretary Buttigieg recognized the facility’s uniquely sustainable features designed to equip researchers with the space and equipment necessary to continue the U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s mission to advance transportation innovation for the public good.
Before touring the new building, Secretary Buttigieg referenced the original U.S. DOT Volpe Center’s historical origins and roots in public service: “It’s fitting that this building came about during the NASA days, and I think that was the moment, this call to serve, that motivated so many people…to be part of this enterprise,” said the Secretary.
“Now is a moment that is ripe for that same call. There is a generation, or generations of Americans who can find meaning…through their involvement in propelling America to the next level.”
Original source can be found here
