By Andrea Brennan
Peter Appel, Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) for the U.S. Department of Transportation, said that the 2010 Intelligent Transportation Systems Plan includes sharing best practices and research with the aviation community. RITA is committed to inclusive collaboration on major initiatives because the research might be applicable to both ground and air transportation.
“We’re making sure we’re talking with each other,” Appel said to SAJ. For example, during the Distracted Driving Summit in September
2009, one of the speakers was an FAA engineer who had been studying cockpit distraction for nearly 40 years. In turn, Appel pointed out, some of the planned ITS research includes implementing technology in vehicles to remove dangerous distractions. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication, another planned 2010 RITA research area, might improve aviation safety in the future by helping aircraft be aware of each other.
For more information about the 2010 ITS research plan, see http://www.rita.dot.gov.
