2018: Tim Stewart Takes the Helm
Tim Stewart is the Executive Director and CEO of the E-470 Public Highway Authority, and is beginning his year as IBTTA President after being elected by the IBTTA membership in September 2017. This blog post contains excerpts from Stewart’s recent conversation with IBTTA Communications Director Bill Cramer. Please click here to read the full interview.
Q: How did you become interested or begin working in transportation?
A: My start in transportation was really coincidental; not planned…. One thing led to the next, and 33 years later, I’m still in the same industry and enjoying a whole new mix of opportunities and challenges.
I have been fortunate to see transportation from many perspectives, beginning in field maintenance and working with a host of very smart people in construction, engineering, operations, new toll systems integration, financing, IT and security, and new program and business development.
Q: Please tell us about your theme for the year – Trust and Accountability.
A: Our industry delivers a good, valuable product. The outcomes for the most part have been favorable, and often very positive, for communities that have used and experienced tolls. Where people still have reservations, their concerns often lead back to trust and accountability.
First, people have to trust what we do in the tolling industry. It’s taking time for customers and communities to understand that we offer a dependable, viable solution to meet demand for transportation and economic growth. Each one of us in our roles to support the industry can help communicate the benefits of tolling, transportation and enhanced mobility.
That trust leads into accountability. If you trust someone to do something, they have to deliver. If we don’t deliver, we jeopardize the trust people place in us. So we build trust by what we do, we hold ourselves accountable for what we promise to do, and we invite others to hold us accountable, as well. That’s the bedrock of what we do and who we are as an industry. We deliver on our promises.
That’s exactly what IBTTA has been doing through its Moving America Forward campaign: Communicating with elected officials at all levels of government, and educating public policy-makers, the media and the general public about the benefits of tolling and our successes in delivering the services people need and expect.
Q: What do you see as the two or three biggest opportunities or challenges facing surface transportation today?
A: The most immediate challenge, not a new one but something we’ve been facing for many years, is funding.
The continued decline in buying power due to limited or no increases in new revenues for surface transportation can only lead to damaging if not potentially catastrophic results over the longer term. You can only kick the can for so long, before there is little can left to kick.
The decisions facing all policy-makers are enormous, but those decisions must still be made. Now, more than ever, all options and combinations of options involving local, state, and federal funding must be fully explored and advanced. We should look at highway funding successes around the world, understand why they were successful, and see if they can be adapted to address the problems we face. That’s where IBTTA can play a crucial role as a convener for these ideas, practices and solutions.
Our industry should continue to advocate for sensible reductions in regulatory impediments to progress. That definitely doesn’t mean throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It does mean identifying ways to streamline regulatory reviews that often result in significant cost increases with limited benefit. As an industry, we should determine ways to cross those regulatory barriers with collaboration for betterment, not feeding ongoing opposition to legitimate and much-needed change.
Q: How is IBTTA building practical solutions on these issues?
A: One of IBTTA’s strategic goals is to be an indispensable source for and convener of information on tolling solutions and opportunities in transportation. Through the Moving America Forward campaign, I see the needle moving in a positive direction on tolling and user-financed transportation. But there’s more work ahead of us, and we must continue to reach out to various audiences and deliver a consistent message.
Another opportunity for our association is to identify and continue shining a light on the industry’s successes in delivering efficient, effective, safe and reliable transportation solutions. Sharing those successes and lessons learned at conferences, webinars and other venues through the year is one of the greatest benefits IBTTA brings back to the industry, and to the many millions of customers who depend on us.