The 2026 Surface Transportation Reauthorization – Live Stakeholder Listening Session

The 2026 Surface Transportation Reauthorization represents a pivotal moment for U.S. transportation policy. While funding levels often dominate the conversation, deeper questions about governance, accountability, performance, and the federal role in surface transportation remain unsettled. How Congress frames these issues will shape outcomes across highways, transit, freight, and safety for years to come.

The Alliance for Innovation and Infrastructure (Aii) is convening a live stakeholder listening session to support thoughtful, independent examination of these questions. Aii’s role is not advocacy, but convening – creating space for informed perspectives, surfacing tradeoffs, and elevating practical insights that can inform policymakers and the broader public.

This session will be hosted by Brigham McCown, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Aii, and a current member of the U.S. Department of Transportation Advisory Board. Drawing on decades of experience across government and industry, McCown will be in the listening seat to capture stakeholder perspectives and and steer thoughtful and relevant information to the right domains.

The open mic will seek to give voice to perspectives on how the structure of federal surface transportation programs influences real-world outcomes, where incentives align or conflict with operational realities, and how policy can better adapt to innovation, data, and changing conditions. Topics may include the federal–state balance, performance-based safety, regulatory flexibility, infrastructure resilience, funding credibility, and long-term governance challenges.

This is a stakeholder listening session – not a debate and not a forum for Aii to provide answers or insights. Participants are encouraged to share grounded perspectives on what is working, what is not, and where reauthorization discussions would benefit from clearer framing and better evidence.

Who should attend
• Transportation and infrastructure professionals
• State and local officials
• Industry operators and innovators
• Policy analysts and researchers
• Stakeholders engaged in safety, freight, mobility, and infrastructure governance

Date and time
February 20
10:00 a.m. Eastern

Format
Live virtual discussion with moderated stakeholder input, live streamed to social media

Insights from this session will inform Aii’s ongoing independent research, analysis, and convening work related to the 2026 Surface Transportation Reauthorization and broader infrastructure governance.

Surface Reauthorization Listening Session