AASHTO Research Advisory Council July 25, 2018 Critical Issues in Transportation AASHTO Research Advisory Council July 25, 2018

Criteria for Being “Critical” It is an important longer term issue that is likely to be a major policy issue in the future. There are expected to be major changes related to the issue that will affect transportation in an important way. It is an issue that is cross cutting across multiple modes of transportation. It is an issue that affects all levels of government. It is an issue that affects both the public and private sector. It is an issue of importance globally, and not just in the United States. It is an issue that is related to broader societal outcomes we are trying to achieve.

Broader Societal Goals That Transportation Supports Safety and security Economic vitality/growth Quality of life Sustainability Equity in providing opportunity Public health

Critical Issue Topics Transformational Technologies Policy Issues Serving a Growing and Shifting Population Energy/Sustainability Resilience/Security Safety/Public Health Equity Governance Asset Performance and Management Funding/Finance Goods Movement Institutional and Workforce Capacity Research and Innovation

Transformational Technologies Policy Issues Connected and autonomous vehicles Shared mobility services Electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles Location and development impacts Big data and smart cities Balance of regulatory oversight and technology development and innovation Artificial intelligence

Serving a Growing and Shifting Population Mega-region internal travel and connections Needs of growth areas vs. non-growth areas Rural access needs Millennial and Baby Boomer needs, especially in areas not well served by transit

Energy/Sustainability Reducing greenhouse gas emissions Sustainable energy sources for transportation Electric powered transportation Sustainability considerations in decision making Streamlining project development and environmental review process

Resilience/Security Adding security without impeding mobility Adopting a risk management approach to resilience Adaptation to severe weather events Security risks form drones Cybersecurity and GPS vulnerabilities Evacuation issues

Safety/Public Health Adopting proven and new safety technologies Adopting proven crash avoidance methods Public health’s linkage to transportation Fatigue management Operator distraction from technology Unmanned aircraft safety issues Safety management and safety culture Impacts of marijuana and other drugs Learning from other nations’ approaches

Equity Equity issues of alternative financing mechanisms Access to new technology services for disabled and elderly travelers Access issues for the economically disadvantaged Environmental justice issues

Governance Devolution’s impact on interstate and international commerce Addressing nationally significant bottlenecks Megaregion and multi-jurisdictional decision making Roles in providing Mobility as a Service Implications of transformational technologies on institutions Governance of data

Asset Performance and Management Use of pricing and technology to improve system performance Managing for performance Asset management and life cycle cost decision making New materials, construction techniques, and maintenance approaches Impacts of heavy loads on infrastructure

Funding/Finance Role of federal funding User fee financing issues Mileage based user fee issues Role of public-private financing Funding for low density links Funding for public transit and inland waterways Incentivizing carbon emission reductions Subsidizing disabled, elderly, and economically disadvantaged transportation

Goods Movement Providing for growth in freight Reducing emissions from freight Worker shortages in freight Transformational technologies in freight Data challenges, e.g. proprietary data Concentration of freight into a limited number of carriers Distribution of domestic energy Effect in changes in manufacturing (e.g. 3D printing)

Institutional and Workforce Capacity Institutional capacity to address current issues Preparing the workforce for new technologies and future issues Attracting underrepresented groups into transportation Outsourcing management issues Baby boomer retirement impacts Displacements of workers by technology Attracting new workers to transportation

Research and Innovation Learning from new technology experiments and sharing lessons learned Impact of rapid development and deployment of new technology on traditional research Accelerating public sector research and innovation Development and retention of the teachers of tomorrow