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Straight from the Source

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About Straight from the Source

This occasional series enables a stimulating information exchange with today's thought leaders in transportation on emerging and future transportation issues.

Past Events

The Imperative and Opportunity to Invest in Resilient Infrastructure

  • February 8, 2021
  • Featured Speaker
    • Stephen E. Flynn, PhD - Founding Director, Global Resilience Institute, and Professor of Political Science and of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Northeastern University
  • Read News Recap
  • View Video Highlights

Our Shared Transportation Future

Between Public and Private Mobility: Examining the Rise of Technology-Enabled Transportation Services

Moving Freight: Can Goods Movement Help Carry a Surface Transport Bill?

Transportation and Livability: What's That Really Mean for Rural Transportation Systems?

Educating the Next Generation

  • October 24, 2013
  • Featured Speaker
    • Ian A. Waitz - Dean, School of Engineering, the Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a MacVicar Faculty Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Read News Recap
  • View Video Highlights

Discoveries in D.C. and Delft: Reflections on the Future of Transportation Research and Education

Measuring Walkability: The Health Question

  • May 7, 2013
  • Featured Speaker
    • Ann Forsyth - Professor of Urban Planning and Director of the Masters in Urban Planning Program at Harvard University
  • Read News Recap
  • View Video Highlights

Considering Transportation as a Complex Sociotechnical System

  • April 17, 2013
  • Featured Speaker
    • ​Joseph M. Sussman Jr, PhD - Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Engineering Systems Division at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • View Video Highlights

Using Automated Data Collection Systems to Improve Public Transport Performance: Applications at Transport for London

  • March 6, 2013
  • Featured Speaker
    • Nigel H.M. Wilson, PhD - Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Read News Recap
  • View Video Highlights

Every Day Counts

Risk-Based Security and Enhanced Behavior Detection/Analysis

  • May 22, 2012
  • Featured Speaker
    • ​​​​​​​George Naccara - Federal Security Director, Logan International Airport, Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • Read News Recap
  • View Video Highlights

Innovating with Excess Capacity to Achieve Speed and Scale

Innovations for a Better Tomorrow: How States and U.S. DOT Collaborate to Accelerate and Embrace Change

  • February 17, 2012
  • Featured Speaker
    • ​​​​Kirk T. Steudle - President, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and Director, Michigan Department of Transportation
  • Read News Recap
  • View Video Highlights

The Uncertainty of the "Made In" Label in Today's Global Economy

Congestion in Rapidly Growing Cities: Lessons from Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, and Mumbai

Reducing Road Fatalities with Human-Centered Systems

  • November 1, 2011
  • Featured Speaker
    • Max Donath, PhD - Director, Intelligent Transportation Systems Institute at the University of Minnesota
  • View Video Highlights

Integration of Air and High Speed Rail: Are We Ready to Do It?

  • October 4, 2011
  • Featured Speaker
    • Matthew Coogan - Director, New England Transportation Institute
  • View Video Highlights

Looking Beyond Safety Management Systems to Risk IQ

  • September 13, 2011
  • Featured Speaker
    • David Soucie - Owner, Sans Soucie Enterprises, and Author, Why Planes Crash - An Accident Investigator Fights for Safe Skies
  • View Video Highlights

Transportation Technology and Policy: A 2011 Perspective

  • September 1, 2011
  • Featured Speaker
    • Peter H. Appel - Former Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S. DOT
  • View Video Highlights

Imagine! How Wireless Connectivity Can Change Safety, Mobility, and the Environment

  • July 26, 2011
  • Featured Speaker
    • Shelley Row - Director, Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office, U.S. DOT
  • View Video Highlights

Forever Open Road: Redefining Highway Transport for the 21st Century

  • July 15, 2011
  • Featured Speaker
    • Joris Al, PhD - General Director, Centre for Transport and Navigation, Directorate-General of Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat) of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, the Netherlands
  • View Video Highlights

What Services Should You Operate in a Bus Corridor? And What Can We Achieve in Time Savings, Reliability, and Comfort if Properly Controlled?

  • June 28, 2011
  • Featured Speaker
    • Juan Carlos Muñoz Abogabir, PhD - Associate Professor, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
  • View Video Highlights

New Vehicle Technology, Older Drivers, and the Problem of Transition

  • June 7, 2011
  • Featured Speaker
    • Joe Coughlin - Founder and Director, AgeLab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Director, New England University Transportation Center
  • View Video Highlights

New Frontiers for the Global Automotive Enterprise

  • May 24, 2011
  • Featured Speaker
    • James Womack - Founder and Senior Advisor, Lean Enterprise Institute
  • View Video Highlights

*The views of the speakers do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Last updated: Thursday, July 10, 2025