The Optical Society of America has noted that the US Congress and the Bush administration have recognized the importance of optics and photonics to transportation needs. On Aug. 10, the president signed into law the “Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: Legacy for Users,” also known as HR 3, which contains a reference to photonics in its definition of an intelligent transportation system. In section 5310, subsection (3), of the bill, the system is defined as “electronics, photonics, communications or information processing used singly or in combination to improve the efficiency or safety of a surface transportation system.”