The Department of Transportation recently published a Request for Comment, inviting the public and transportation industry stakeholders to share public comments on the Non-Traditional and Emerging Transportation Council.

DOT is seeking public comment so that the NETT Council can be responsive to the needs of both the public and the industry. The group was created to be an internal deliberative body at the department tasked with identifying and resolving jurisdictional and regulatory gaps that may impede the deployment of new technology, such as tunneling, hyperloop, autonomous vehicles, and other innovations.

“The NETT Council was established to provide a common portal to the department’s decentralized modes to better engage with new technologies which are cross-modal; the department is seeking input on how to make the NETT Council work more effectively to prepare for the transportation system of the future,” said Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao.

Since the council’s inception in March 2019, innovators and stakeholders have approached DOT with concepts and ideas that vary in their stage of development. The department is seeking comment on how the NETT Council can be better positioned to support transportation innovation and the extent to which DOT's existing regulatory construct supports or hinders innovation.

The RFC is available on the Federal Register here for a 45-day comment period.