January 29, 2014

AASHTO Centennial Celebrated During TRB Special Session

Various transportation experts with ties to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials spoke during a spotlight session on the past accomplishments of the organization and where it was heading in the future at the 93rd annual Transportation Research Board meeting in Washington, D.C. on Monday.

Attendees at the meeting session heard from: former U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, who previously served as Arizona Department of Transportation Secretary and Federal Highway Administrator; former Nevada Department of Transportation Director and AASHTO President Susan Martinovich, now of CH2M Hill; former AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley; historian Bruce Seely of Michigan Technological University; and current AASHTO Executive Director Bud Wright.

After all presentations ranging from the history of AASHTO to experiences as a past president to how the organization has influenced transportation throughout the last century, Wright spoke of AASHTO's future. He said AASHTO's 100th birthday gave the organization the opportunity to look back and celebrate that century of success, but also where it is headed in the future.

"We at AASHTO now are hoping to use this centennial celebration as a way to look forward and decide what it is we've learned from that 100 years that carries forward and how it will contribute to the success of AASHTO over the next 25 years or even over the next 100 years," Wright said.

Wright discussed several priorities for future AASHTO actions, which included finding common ground among members to be AASHTO's voice, to be "laboratories of innovation" to find and accept new approaches to doing things (which includes focusing on multi-modal solutions), helping states find the best solutions to issues that arise, assuring taxpayers that state transportation departments are good stewards of their dollars, completing the AASHTO Strategic Plan, and continuing to foster relationships with Congress to advocate for AASHTO member causes and needs.

"Nothing that has happened over the past 100 years guarantees our success going forward, so we have to chart a course that keeps AASHTO relevant, that maintains the strength and symbolism of that AASHTO brand," Wright concluded. "I think we can do it. I know we have the right people in place to take us there, because our members are state DOTs. We want to succeed. We want to deliver quality services for the citizens of our states and we're going to drive in that direction."

Video of all speakers at TRB’s AASHTO centennial celebration is available here.