技术，过渡和转型都超出了运输专业人员之间的讨论。该行业正在等待新的总统管理部门的行动，以及与基础设施相关的和自动化车辆的即将发生的影响，并在去年10月庆祝的美国运输部50周年纪念日，在美国运输部的50周年纪念日中盘点股票。
美国DOT的前监察长肯·米德（Ken Mead）表示，尽管该点已经取得了一些重大成就，例如在航空安全统计中，但在客运铁路安全方面仍然有很多事情要做。他在本月华盛顿特区的交通研究委员会年度会议上的一个小组讨论中指出，该地区的地铁战争。他问：“联邦公交管理局是否有能力进行过境安全问题”？
He also brought up the ongoing debate in Congress regarding whether the Federal Aviation Administration should cede to private management the modernization of air-traffic-control infrastructure. As for highways and bridges, “we have to look through a different lens. The DOT is turning into a check-writing function.”
In general, “it’s time to redefine the DOT’s mission in 2017 terms,” he said.
杰克·施嫩多夫（Jack Schenendorf）在众议院运输和基础设施委员会工作人员任职25年，他倾斜地暗示了当前的政治气候，指出在交通立法方面，国会中的两党精神丧失。他说：“该系统变得更加政治化。”希望与过道另一端与同行交谈的政客谈论运输“现在被限制在发表意见。”
He emphasized the long-standing issue of not raising the federal gas tax to pace with inflation, as well as the red tape that delays projects and programs. The current negative results of underinvestment in infrastructure—bottlenecks, aging bridges and roads, and deaths—“are nothing compared to what’s coming,” Schenendorf said. “If we don’t figure out what the DOT is going to look like for the next 50 years, then things are going to be a lot more bleak.”
Automated Future
Carl Andersen, FHWA’s connected-vehicle program manager, said that, despite reports of crashes involving AV test vehicles, including a fatal incident in Florida earlier this year, “no single incident will derail efforts to launch new technology that is lifesaving.” It may be as long as 50 years before AV-specific design features become evident in the nation’s highways, Andersen added. “Roads will look like they do now for a long time,” he said.
尽管如此，从TRB的各种相关会议范围内可以清楚地看出，运输工程师和管理人员希望在发生过渡时为过渡做好准备。
In a session on the implications for infrastructure design, construction, maintenance and management, panelists identified a range of impacts, from roadway geometrics and pavement performance to work-zone deployment.
特别关注的是联合国AVs的处理能力ique existing roadway features in urban and rural settings. Zachary Doerzaph, director of the Center for Advanced Automotive Research at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, said engineers need to be prepared to respond to faster turnovers in technology.
Kittelson＆Associates的高级首席工程师Brian Ray指出，运输机构可能需要调整其维护优先级，更加重视路面标记和标牌，以保持AVS的移动性和安全性。
But while AVs may inspire both wonder and worry, especially when considering the cost associated with accommodating them, Ray said transportation professionals should recall when automobiles were introduced to an infrastructure system that had evolved around horse-drawn vehicles.
“We’ve been here before,” Ray said.
