Recently, Governor Kim Reynolds appointed a new director of the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT). Scott Marler became the Iowa DOT Director in February of 2020. He has worked for the Iowa DOT for over 20 years, with experience in traffic operations, highway project development, regulatory compliance, and the natural environment. He has chosen to drive a new vision for Iowa’s transportation systems.
I want to share a few statistics he shared with me recently. Iowa has approximately 350 traffic related deaths each year. Law enforcement deals with approximately 58,000 crashes (nearly 160 daily).
He also shared his vision for transportation in Iowa’s future. This vision includes having our infrastructure ready for autonomous vehicles. Driver-less vehicles create new issues around law enforcement, safety, and insurance. He also shared a goal to use modern technology to shorten up lines at driver license stations and maximize equipment/employee efficiencies. He discussed his desire to stay on track with the long and short-term construction projects across Iowa.
