U.S.-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership
On July 10-12, the USASCP-DOT partnership hosted participants from their U.S.-ASEAN city pairings in Los Angeles, CA, to learn from their peers about challenges, opportunities, and best practices for the development of transit systems in smart cities. Nina Hachigan, former Deputy Mayor of International Affairs of LA, and former Ambassador to ASEAN, opened the workshop by reflecting on the intersections of her previous roles, and emphasized the value of urban planning at the sub-national, city level to improve the livelihood of residents. Experts from the ASEAN partner cities of Jakarta, Johor Bahru, and Phuket were joined by their peer counterparts from Los Angeles, Portland, Las Vegas and Boston to engage in discussions around modal integration, pedestrian safety, bus rapid transit design, and ridership behavioral patterns. The workshop highlighted the importance of public engagement in the development of transportation policy, planning and technology and helped advance the respective city pairs transit toolkits. A site visit to Los Angeles DOT facilities, including its signaling operation center and multi-modal infrastructure, provided direct experiences for learning and knowledge-sharing across international regions as well as among the U.S. and USASEAN cities respectively.
