Preparing the Transportation Workforce for Emerging Technologies: Developing a Guide (2026)
Chapter: 5 Guide Overview and Resources
Chapter 5: Guide Overview and Resources
Once the highest priority resource needs were identified through the Gap Analysis, the final step in the project was to outline and design the NCHRP 20-102(20) guide. The following chapter describes the process in which the NCHRP 20-102(20) guide was developed and provides an overview of the resources contained within the guide.
Vision, Audience, and Purpose
The project team developed a comprehensive guide to Workforce Preparedness, formally titled the A Guide to Preparing the Transportation Workforce for Emerging Technologies to support a broad range of entities including transportation agencies, academic institutions, workforce preparedness programs, and national organizations focused on emerging transportation technology training and development. To develop the guide, the project team defined the vision and target audience. Serving as the foundation for the guide, the vision is a concise, graphically appealing document with quick-reference material suited for a broad range of topics. The content focuses on addressing the root causes and resource gaps identified in Chapter 4: Workforce Gap Analysis.
The target audience of the content—who would most benefit from the resources within the guide—varies by resource, but is intended for all levels of state, regional, and local DOT staff. Polling (14 responses) during the stakeholder webinar identified managers as the audience that would most benefit from this resource. Many of the resources in the guide are targeted at managers, mid-level staff, and human resources. Additionally, a secondary audience is private industry representatives and academic and trade representatives.
Following the identification of the audience, the project team utilized the insights gathered in Chapters 3 and 4, to develop a framework and structure for the guide that could encapsulate a variety of resources, providing a breadth of topics for readers. Organizing the guide around the three themes improves clarity and navigation for readers. Within each of the three themes, the project team developed a broad list of resources that could fill the resource gaps discussed in Chapter 4: Workforce Gap Analysis. The team, with feedback from stakeholders during the stakeholder webinar and the NCHRP panel, filtered the list of resources to identify the most useful resources to develop within each chapter. Stakeholder webinar responses (14) ranked checklists, process maps, and demonstrative examples as the most helpful formats for the resources.
Guide Outline
The guide is comprised of five main chapters, each described in Table 8. The outline was developed through collaboration with the NCHRP panel and stakeholder feedback. The introduction aims to provide an overview and ‘quick read’ of the research and findings contained in the Final Report. The chapters contain resources responding directly to workforce root causes and gaps identified in Chapter 4: Workforce Gap Analysis.
Table 8: Outline of the Guide’s Main Chapters
| Guide Sections | Description |
|---|---|
| Introduction |
|
| Leveraging this Guide |
|
| Institutional Agility (chapter containing resources) |
|
| Staffing Adaptability (chapter containing resources) |
|
| Workforce Pipeline (chapter containing resources) |
|
Guide Resources
Three resource chapters of the guide were identified through the Workforce Gap Analysis, based on their anticipated impact on preparing the workforce for emerging transportation technologies. Each chapter provides a variety of resources designed to support transportation agencies of all sizes in adapting their workforce to effectively leverage these technologies. These resources include checklists, case examples, discussion guides, and other tools crafted to inform agency decision-makers about the impacts and alternatives related to workforce development. Emphasizing flexibility and adaptability, these resources provide options rather than prescriptive actions, allowing agencies to tailor their approaches to their unique needs. The following sections offer a detailed description of each chapter and the associated resources.
Institutional Agility Resources
Transportation agencies are unique, governed by different policies, regulations, and organizational structures, and are at various stages of planning for and deploying emerging technologies. Agencies’ efforts in preparing their workforce for the current and future challenges also vary greatly. This chapter discusses and offers resources to support agency’s navigating workforce challenges that impact their ability to respond quickly to evolving technologies through their policies, organization, and culture. The resources provided in the Institutional Agility chapter are summarized in Table 9.
Table 9: Institutional Agility Resources
| ID | Resource Title | Resource Description |
|---|---|---|
| Institutional Agility (IA) | ||
| IA-1 | Fostering Multidisciplinary Teams of the Future | Discussion of the value proposition for introducing multidisciplinary organizational teams into traditionally siloed organizational structures. Case studies of challenges and solutions are included. |
| IA-2 | Modernizing Organizational Structure and Culture | Implementation strategies for adapting organizational structures and fostering a culture that supports modern operational needs, implementable from local teams to agency wide. |
| IA-3 | Building a Business Case for New Positions | Framework and discussion guide for developing a business case to advocate for changes to existing positions, introduce new positions, and curate unique career paths. |
| IA-4 | Developing Compelling Benefits Packages | Worksheet to evaluate current or new positions and skills compensation packages relative to agency goals, agency compensation philosophy, and market value. |
Table 10 summarizes the associated resources available within the Institutional Agility Chapter, building from the gaps identified in Chapter 4: Workforce Gap Analysis (Table 5). The table demonstrates the connection between the guide resources and the root causes and gaps they’re intended to address.
Table 10: Institutional Agility Guide Resources
| Root Causes | Related Workforce Gaps | Guide Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
| Career pathways largely reflect the perception that the transportation agency staff is primarily staffed by civil engineers (CEs). Thus, agency organizational charts do not include the emerging positions and skills, both CE and non-CE, needed to support emerging technologies. |
| IA-1 Fostering Multidisciplinary Teams of the Future: Discusses the value of introducing multidisciplinary teams into traditionally siloed structures. IA-2 Modernizing Organizational Structure and Culture: Presents actionable strategies to update and align organizational structures and cultures with modern practices and evolving needs. IA-3 Building a Business Case for New Positions: Offers frameworks for developing a business case to advocate for changes and new positions, addressing career pathways. |
| Lack of knowledge about emerging technologies and challenges in calculating/communicating return on investment analyses (ROI) on new technologies can result in a lack of support from leadership. |
| Resources are not included in the guide. |
| Root Causes | Related Workforce Gaps | Guide Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
| Departments and groups within agencies are at different stages of implementation of emerging technologies and/or lack shared goals from leadership |
| IA-2 Modernizing Organizational Structure and Culture: Provides strategies to adapt organizational structures ranging from local to agency-wide implementation. |
| Factors outside of agencies’ control have direct (and significant) influences on their ability to prepare the workforce. |
| Resources are not included in the guide. While there are no specific resources that directly address this root cause, the guide offers strategies to help organizations respond to external factors outside of agencies’ control. |
| The necessary collaboration across disciplines may be constrained due to silos in the organizational chart, disconnected processes, and/or organization culture. |
| IA-1 Fostering Multidisciplinary Teams of the Future: Discusses strategies to integrate multidisciplinary teams. IA-2 Modernizing Organizational Structure and Culture: Provides strategies to adapt organizational structures ranging from local to agency-wide implementation. |
| Root Causes | Related Workforce Gaps | Guide Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
| Local, state, and federal funding and mandates drive an organization’s investment (time, budget, and resources) to prepare the workforce for emerging technologies. |
| IA-3 Building a Business Case for New Positions: Advocates for resource planning and allocation. IA-4 Developing Compelling Benefits Packages: Discusses evaluating compensation packages in light of agency budgets. |
| Over-reliance on individual champions or consultants to deploy and maintain new and emerging technologies. |
| IA-1 Fostering Multidisciplinary Teams of the Future: Discusses building a diverse team to share knowledge and responsibilities. IA-2 Modernizing Organizational Structure and Culture: Presents actionable strategies to update and align organizational structures and cultures with modern practices. IA-4 Developing Compelling Benefits Packages: Provides strategies to retain key staff through tailored compensation and benefits. |
| Salaries and benefits of traditional and nontraditional industry positions are not competitive with private industry. |
| IA-3 Building a Business Case for New Positions: Advocates for resource planning and allocation. IA-4 Developing Compelling Benefits Packages: Provides strategies to retain key staff through tailored compensation and benefits. |
Staffing Adaptability Resources
The staffing adaptability chapter of the guide seeks to provide resources to source, incentivize, and retain staff to support emerging technologies within transportation agencies. This section addresses the workforce challenges associated with the quickly evolving skillsets needed to support emerging technologies and navigating upskilling, hiring, and retaining staff, highlighted in Chapter 4: Workforce Gap Analysis. The resources provided in the Staffing Adaptability chapter are summarized in Table 11 below.
Table 11: Staffing Adaptability Resources
| ID | Resource Title | Resource Description |
|---|---|---|
| Staffing Adaptability (SA) | ||
| SA-1 | Emerging Positions and Skills | Tables of emerging positions in the transportation industry and knowledge, skills, and abilities by six key sectors. Additional details on the emerging positions are outlined in the guide’s Appendix. |
| SA-2 | Deciding to Upskill, Hire, or Outsource | Decision tool to help agencies decide whether to upskill current employees, hire new staff, or outsource tasks to address skill gaps effectively. |
| SA-3 | Developing and Promoting New Career Paths | Strategies to create opportunities for staff’s growth personally, within their teams, and their agencies. |
| SA-4 | Leveraging Vendor Contracts for Internal Skill Building | Set of strategies to better leverage existing or future technology vendor contracts to build a resilient operation and maintenance team. |
| SA-5 | Identifying Transferrable Skills for Recruiting and Hiring | Framework for recruiting from traditional and nontraditional disciplines and table of transferable skills cross tabulated by adjacent fields. |
| SA-6 | Keeping Pace with Technology through Professional Organizations and Trainings | Tables of professional organizations and federal online training programs for current and prospective industry candidates. |
Table 12 summarizes these challenges and the associated resources available within this guide to provide support for various levels and departments within an organization. While this table was initially presented in the Chapter 4: Workforce Gap Analysis (Table 6), focusing on external resources, it now highlights the resources within this guide that address the identified root causes.
Table 12: Staffing Adaptability Guide Resources
| Root Causes | Related Workforce Gaps | Guide Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
| Skills ‘new’ to the transportation industry are quickly evolving and organizations are currently (and predicted to continue) experiencing skill gaps. Availability of resources on emerging positions, position KSAs, and competencies varies by emerging technology. |
| SA-1 Emerging Positions and Skills: Provides comprehensive tables of current and emerging positions and skills including necessary qualifications and certifications. SA-2 Deciding to Upskill, Hire, or Outsource: Provides a decision tree to help agencies determine the best approach for filling skill gaps—whether by upskilling, hiring, or outsourcing. SA-4 Leveraging Vendor Contracts for Internal Skill Building: Discusses ways to use vendor contracts to build internal capabilities. |
| Opportunities within the transportation industry, specifically emerging technologies, are not well-known and advertised. |
| SA-1 Emerging Positions and Skills: Provides comprehensive tables of current and emerging positions. SA-5 Identifying Transferrable Skills for Recruiting and Hiring: Guides agencies in identifying candidates with transferable skills and increasing awareness of career opportunities within transportation industry. |
| Root Causes | Related Workforce Gaps | Guide Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
| Organizational structures, positions, and career pathways are limited to civil engineering/licensure. |
| SA-1 Emerging Positions and Skills: Highlights roles and relevant emerging skillsets, helping agencies recognize the importance of diverse positions beyond traditional civil engineering roles. SA-3 Developing and Promoting New Career Paths: Provides strategies for creating and promoting new career paths to support personal, team, and agency growth. |
| Technologies are implemented before identifying staff who will focus on the technology and providing adequate training for the technology. |
| SA-2 Deciding to Upskill, Hire, or Outsource: Provides a decision tree to help agencies determine the best approach for filling skill gaps—whether by upskilling, hiring, or outsourcing. |
| Root Causes | Related Workforce Gaps | Guide Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
| Staff are experiencing a lack of design, review, integration, and data analysis experience. |
| SA-3 Developing and Promoting New Career Paths: Outlines strategies for fostering staff growth and developing comprehensive career paths to build necessary skills. SA-6. Keeping Pace with Technology through Professional Organizations and Trainings: Provides a list of professional organizations and online training programs that provide continuous education and credentialing for keeping abreast of emerging technology trends. |
| A lack of knowledge of the intricacies of the emerging technologies. |
| SA-4 Leveraging Vendor Contracts for Internal Skill Building: Offers strategies to leverage vendor contracts to enhance internal staff skills, reducing the strain on existing staff by augmenting capabilities through training. SA-6 Keeping Pace with Technology through Professional Organizations: Provides a list of professional organizations and online training programs that provide continuous education and credentialing for keeping abreast of emerging technology trends. |
| Root Causes | Related Workforce Gaps | Guide Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
| Organizations are experiencing challenges sourcing and retaining staff, and especially technician staff to install and maintain new technologies. |
| SA-2 Deciding to Upskill, Hire, or Outsource: Helps agencies make informed decisions about filling skill gaps through upskilling, hiring, or outsourcing to manage workloads efficiently. SA-4 Leveraging Vendor Contracts for Internal Skill Building: Offers strategies to leverage vendor contracts to enhance internal staff skills, reducing the strain on existing staff by augmenting capabilities through training. IA-4 Developing Compelling Benefits Packages: Provides strategies to retain key staff through tailored compensation and benefits. |
Workforce Pipeline Resources
The transportation workforce pipeline refers to the systematic approach used to predict and manage the workforce needs in the transportation sector. This pipeline includes a wide range of professions, from bus and truck drivers, to mechanics, to engineers and data scientists, across all modes of transportation. This section addresses the workforce challenges associated with bolstering the workforce pipeline highlighted in Chapter 4: Workforce Gap Analysis. It should be noted that the Workforce Gap Analysis initially referred to this theme as Education and Training, which has since been refined and expanded to Workforce Pipeline as detailed in the guide. The resources provided in the workforce pipeline chapter are summarized Table 13 below. In addition to agency staff, the workforce pipeline resources are also developed to be useful to education partners such as university, trade, and other workforce program representatives.
Table 13: Workforce Pipeline Resources
| ID | Resource Title | Resource Description |
|---|---|---|
| Workforce Pipeline (WP) | ||
| WP-1 | Cultivating Agency Relationships with Education Partners | A maturity model for agencies to develop and strengthen relationships with educational institutions (e.g., K-12, university, college, trade) organized by current involvement between the agency and partner. |
| WP-2 | Modernizing Education Paths into the Transportation Industry* | Case study discussions for education partners on adapting and building momentum within their programs to better meet the workforce needs. |
* This resource is tailored to education and trade representatives, a key partner to agencies.
Table 14 summarizes these challenges and the associated resources available within this guide to help agencies determine strategies that transportation agencies can deploy at the local and regional level, while being informed by the efforts and conversations at the national level. The resources in this chapter aim to bridge the gaps between educators and the industry and enhance the visibility of transportation careers. While this table was initially presented in Chapter 4: Workforce Gap Analysis (Table 7), focusing on external resources, it now highlights the resources within this guide that address the identified root causes.
Table 14: Workforce Pipeline Guide Resources
| Root Causes | Related Workforce Gaps | Guide Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
Academic pathways and training certifications do not always provide adequate:
|
| WP-1 Cultivating Agency Relationships with Education Partners: Facilitates collaboration between agencies and educational institutions to ensure academic programs address real-world needs and provide multidisciplinary education. |
| Academic institutions (and boards) may be resistant to change due to the lack of awareness of technologies, perception of accreditation limitations, justifying the courses for a small student size, and showing the value of the courses. |
| WP-2 Modernizing Education Paths into the Transportation Industry: Provides recommendations for how education partners can adapt their programs to meet industry needs and advocate for the profession. |
| Root Causes | Related Workforce Gaps | Guide Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
| Many of the agency training programs are in early development and thus tracking or metrics are often not available. |
| WP-1 Cultivating Agency Relationships with Education Partners: Offers strategies to develop structured training programs in partnership with educational institutions to track and assess training impacts. |
| Training materials are not adequate for continued learning. |
| WP-1 Cultivating Agency Relationships with Education Partners: Encourages the development of comprehensive training materials in collaboration with educational institutions to ensure continued learning. SA-6. Keeping Pace with Technology through Professional Organizations and Trainings: Provides a list of professional organizations and online training programs that provide continuous education and credentialing for keeping abreast of emerging technology trends. |
| Root Causes | Related Workforce Gaps | Guide Resource ID |
|---|---|---|
| Candidates who have transferable skills or general interest in the transportation industry may experience financial barriers to acquiring the necessary transportation/technology-sspecific certificates or technical skills. |
| WP-1 Cultivating Agency Relationships with Education Partners: Promotes the implementation of funding strategies and resource allocation to bolster programs with educational partners, ensuring students gain valuable exposure and access to opportunities within the transportation industry. |
| Local, state, and federal funding and mandates drive investment in adapting the curricula and training programs needed to prepare the workforce for emerging technologies. |
| Resources are not included in the guide. |
