Critical Issues in Transportation: 2013

TRB’s Executive Committee periodically identifies a set of critical issues in transportation to focus attention on their likely impact on the nation’s economy and quality of life. The discussion of the critical issues identified in this document is intended to facilitate debate and to encourage research leading to their resolution.

Previous editions of Critical Issues in Transportation have highlighted many of the issues that threaten the performance of the nation’s transportation system. In recent years, the Executive Committee has added the need to respond to natural disasters; highlighted how transportation has become ever more linked to broader issues in society and in the economy; and drawn attention to the role transportation plays in energy and environmental issues.

Critical Issues in Transportation: 2013 is designed to stimulate awareness and debate and to focus research on (a) improving transportation system performance and resiliency, (b) reducing transportation injuries and fatalities, and (c) mitigating unsustainable environmental impacts.

The Executive Committee hopes that readers will become aware of and concerned about these issues, and will join in addressing the problems in transportation so that society and the economy can reap the many benefits it offers.