Innovation and applied technology was Booz Allen’s sweet spot. Concrete was still being poured in Greater Washington for the Capital Beltway’s road deck when Booz Allen was tasked with applying advanced sensor technologies to traffic management, and designing early anti-lock braking systems. Our client for much of this work, the National Highway Safety Bureau, was the predecessor agency for NHTSA.
In the 1970s, we led key programs to develop the next generation of transit buses for the Urban Mass Transit Administration. We also evaluated vehicle prototypes for the Department of Energy’s Electric Vehicle Project, and introduced new technology into subway train control and fare-collection systems.
Booz Allen accurately predicted the rapid growth of intermodal rail-and-truck freight transportation in the 1980s. We were equally busy helping clients up in the air and on the waterways, but that’s for another story.
In the 1980s, Booz Allen studied advanced propulsion and alternative fuels including methanol, gas turbine, compressed natural gas, electric and fuel cell systems. In the ’90s, we performed assignments for the Federal Highway Administration analyzing institutional impediments to advanced traffic management and control systems. We worked extensively on Intelligent Transportation Systems, a national effort to develop and install traffic management systems featuring sensors, communications, computers, signals, and displays designed to improve traffic flow and safety.
