Florida DOT intermodal director Biter to retire

Richard Biter says March 1 will be his last day as assistant secretary for intermodal systems development at the Florida Department of Transportation as he is scheduled to undergo cervical surgery.    Richard M. Biter, assistant secretary for intermodal systems development, announced Friday that he will effectively retire from the Florida Department of Transportation on Tuesday. 
   In an e-mail addressed to friends and colleagues, Biter said he is scheduled to undergo cervical surgery similar to the procedure done on Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning a few years ago. Manning, coincidentally, is reportedly ready to announce his retirement from the NFL this week.
   The surgery played a role in determining that it was the right time to leave FDOT after more than four years, although his retirement won’t be official until the recovery is complete. 
   “While I may not be playing in the next year’s Super bowl, my doctors assure me that I will have a complete recovery!” he wrote.
   Biter, 65, is part of an administration under Gov. Rick Scott that has made logistics and international trade a centerpiece of the state’s economic development plan during the past six years. 
   During Biter’s tenure, FDOT developed the first statewide Freight Mobility and Trade Plan, including a blueprint for infrastructure investment, that has become a model for other states in the freight planning arena.
   The advance planning makes easy for Florida to meet many of the new freight requirements and programs in the federal FAST Act, which was enacted in December.
   FDOT has also institutionalized freight planning with new policies, staff and the FDOT Freight Academy.
   Florida has also taken the lead on automated vehicles and connected vehicle technologies.
   Biter, who served as deputy director and acting associate administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Intermodalism for almost a decade ending in 2005, said he has no specific career plans, but will remain active in the transportation industry.