CHOSEN BECAUSE: 

The 43-year-old native of Stratford, Ont., now based in Washington, D.C., is helping lead intelligent mobility, putting vehicles on the road that “talk” to each other, to traffic signs and to pedestrians to increase safety. So-called vehicle-to-everything or V2X technology could reduce crashes — which claim 40,000 lives a year in the United States — increase mobility and move society toward a more sustainable transportation system. 

Shailen Bhatt, previously executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation, says connectivity could soon provide relief for commuters, who could see the amount of time stuck in traffic cut by an average of nearly 100 hours a year. 

His organization, the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, works with automakers on connectivity and on learning how road infrastructure needs to be updated to work best with next-generation autonomous vehicles. Ford, Toyota and General Motors all have members on the ITS America board. 

IN HIS OWN WORDS: 

“One of the most dangerous things you do each day is get in your car and drive. We are very close to a world in which cars don’t crash, or at least not at the rate that they do right now.”