An Exit Interview with Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx

A CityLab interview with Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, who served in the position since 2013 during some of the most frantic technological innovation in transportation since the dam of the age of the automobile.

1 minute read

January 2, 2017, 1:00 PM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Anthony Foxx Announcement

Pete Souza / White House

Laura Bliss sat down recently for an interview with Anthony Foxx, the former mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina who has served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation since June 2013.

Before the interview, Bliss notes how the pace of transportation technology innovation has defined Foxx's tenure, with Foxx working to position the Department of Transportation as an active participant in the evolving landscape.

Foxx brought DOT to the table. Working closely with industry innovators, his agency devised the world’s first national AV safety policy—a comprehensive guidance that earned praise for its flexibility as technology keeps up its breakneck speed. Foxx, formerly the mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, also looped cities into the conversation about 21st-century mobility: The $50 million Smart Cities Challenge fostered a national network of local leaders exchanging tactics to transport citizens through tech-ified, data-driven means. 

The interview allows Secretary Foxx to speak in his own words about the work he's hoping to accomplish in the remaining days of the Obama Administration, examples of the "defining narratives" of transportation technology in recent years, the Obama Administration's focus on transportation equity, and more.

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