Executive Summary

A massive shift away from fossil fuels to clean energy has begun that will require a complete turnover of hundreds of millions of motor vehicles by 2050 to help meet national decarbonization goals. Commuting to work has changed dramatically because of the COVID-19 pandemic in ways that pose significant threats to public transportation. Ten thousand more people died from road crashes in 2022 than 10 years ago. Society at large is grappling with the nation’s history of racial discrimination and increasing disparities in wealth and incomes. The dynamic changes being driven by these and other environmental, public health, and socioeconomic forces require reassessing the role of transportation in addressing societal challenges and the research that informs the choices that society will need to make in 2024 and the coming years.

For this edition of Critical Issues in Transportation, the Transportation Research Board’s Executive Committee chose to focus on five vitally important societal goals to meet these major challenges facing society:

1. Mitigating and responding to climate change
2. Promoting equity and inclusion
3. Increasing road safety
4. Advancing public health
5. Building and sustaining a strong, competitive economy

All five goals contribute to the ultimate goal of a thriving society (see Figure 1).

Transportation is essential for achieving all of these societal goals. It has two key components: the movement of people and goods from origin to destination and infrastructure systems—the physical and digital structures that enable travel by foot, vehicles, vessels, and aircraft. Transportation, in turn, is heavily dependent on the following foundational factors and policy levers, also shown in Figure 1:

• Public policy and oversight (governance);
• Demand for travel generated and modal options dictated by the built environment (land use);
• Adequacy of revenues (funding and finance) to provide and maintain infrastructure;
• Extent, quality, and engagement of its workforce; and
• Fostering and implementation of innovation.

Understanding the complex interactions among the articulated societal goals, transportation itself, and the foundational factors and policy levers is essential for transportation to be successful in contributing positively toward a thriving society. These interactions are discussed in more detail in the individual sections that follow, each of which corresponds to a box in Figure 1. Research and development (R&D) that accounts for the multi-faceted issues and interactions among the foundational factors and policy drivers, their transportation influences, and the achievement of societal goals will inform better policy choices to increase transportation’s contributions to a thriving society.

Technological innovations have created the opportunity to significantly reduce transportation’s reliance on fossil fuels by allowing for the transition, for most vehicle types, to clean electric power without increasing the cost of the electricity for charging batteries or of vehicle ownership and operation. If successful, this energy transition and the resulting reduced vehicle emissions will have substantial public health and environmental justice benefits. Even so, a tremendous effort will be required to deploy charging infrastructure; further improve battery performance and cost; transform vehicle manufacturing; develop net-zero carbon fuels for aircraft, vessels, and other heavy vehicles that depend on high-energy-density fuels; ensure an equitable distribution of the benefit of this transition, and minimize the adverse environmental impacts of mining and processing the minerals required for the vast number of batteries that will be needed. Technology may also improve transportation productivity and highway safety. However, R&D will be necessary to identify and promote scientifically based policies that are acceptable in a pluralistic society.

Addressing transportation’s role in the nation’s history of racial discrimination and improving the transportation options of low-income households generally will require equitable and effective transportation policies and funding, as well as the development of a greater consensus around evidence-based options for establishing such policies and allocating resources accordingly.

Centuries of investment and development have resulted in a vast transportation infrastructure that supports personal and freight travel as well as the substantial cost of maintaining and operating it. Continuing

reinvestment in privately funded infrastructure appears to be on a reliable footing. However, public infrastructure faces greater uncertainty due to historically high levels of federal public debt and continued resistance among elected officials to enact necessary taxes and user fees to maintain and expand existing roads, transit, airports, and ports. The transportation research community can help address this problem by documenting and spreading information about acceptable innovations and practices that work.

Fragmented governance and land use policies may well be integral to the United States due to its history, culture, and forms of government. Even so, innovations in transportation governance and land use policies that address climate change and equity can be documented and shared. Implementing these innovations and other policies described later in this publication depends on attracting and retaining a diverse workforce that is skilled across multiple disciplines. The challenges and opportunities for rewarding careers in transportation are as great as the need to attract talented people to the field.