The USDOT’s Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Joint Program Office (JPO) has announced that it is appointing Norah Ocel as its new ITS safety and stakeholder engagement program manager and Amber Reinmitz as the ITS multimodal digital infrastructure program manager.
Norah Ocel will lead efforts to advance ITS safety initiatives, guide deployment technical assistance at the local level, and expand association stakeholder coordination.
Norah has over 20 years of varied federal, local, and private sector experience in the transportation industry. She comes from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Safety, where she served as ITS vehicle-to-everything (V2X) safety program manager, where she led the development of the Office of Safety’s ITS Safety Roadmap while helping to build capacity with the FHWA safety, operations, and planning disciplines.
Ocel has managed the ITS4US GDOT Safe Trip in a Connected Transportation Network project. She has also made significant contributions to the US Department of Transportation Intersection Safety Challenge and V2X efforts as the lead representative for the Office of Safety. During her time with the Office of Safety, Mrs. Ocel led the development and execution of their Safety Partnership Strategic Plan and was involved in the early stages of the National Roadway Safety Strategy.
Ocel earned a master’s degree in civil engineering (transportation engineering) from the University of Minnesota. She is a registered professional engineer in the State of Virginia and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).
Reimnitz has over 18 years of transportation experience within the federal, state, and private sectors. Prior to ITS JPO, she was with FHWA Office of Freight Management and Operations where she served as the program manager of truck parking, developing and delivering on government initiatives to address truck parking challenges, including the importance of safety for the drivers and road users.
Reimnitz served as FHWA Freight liaison providing support and technical direction to industry organizations, as well as directed and facilitated the National Coalition on Truck Parking (Coalition) group. Also, Reimnitz has engaged in the conversation for equitable freight/logistics movement on numerous roadway digital infrastructure panel discussions, including an ITS America Digital Infrastructure webinar and ITS America Annual Meeting sessions.
In addition to her FHWA experience, Ms. Reimnitz gained significant experience with planning, deployment, and operations of ITS technologies during her work at the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission managing their ITS program. During her tenure, she coordinated with executive staff, external transportation agencies, and the public to communicate the planning, programming, and deployment of emerging technologies and projects along the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.
Ms. Reimnitz earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Minnesota State University, Mankato and holds a PMP certification.
