[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 4, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5150-5151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-02236]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
[Docket No. DOT-OST-2026-0430]
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology;
Request for Information--Research To Support Establishing a National
Strategy for Transportation Digital Infrastructure
AGENCY: Department of Transportation (DOT).
ACTION: Request for information (RFI).
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), Office of
the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (OST-R), is seeking
information from the public, industry, technology developers, State,
local, and tribal transportation agencies, researchers, and other
stakeholders. The focus of this request is to seek public and
stakeholder input on the research and development activities needed to
modernize the nation's transportation system through the application of
digital infrastructure at scale. Responses will inform a coordinated
national strategy for the development and deployment of Transportation
Digital Infrastructure (TDI). This strategy will serve as the framework
for the next generation of the transportation system across all modes
(highway, rail, air, maritime, transit, pipeline) supporting multimodal
operations, safety, asset management, and the accelerated deployment of
new and emerging technologies.
DATES: Written submissions must be received by March 6, 2026.
Submission Instructions: Responses should be submitted
electronically as a Microsoft Word document, preferably no greater than
10 MB in file size. Recommended format for responses includes Times New
Roman 12-point font and 1 inch page margins. Responses should be
emailed to [email protected] (with the Subject Line of ``TDI
Strategy RFI Response ''. No Confidential Business
Information or Sensitive Security Information should be submitted in
response to this RFI. Respondents are not required to answer every
question. Submissions may be as brief or detailed as appropriate and
should focus on areas where the respondent has relevant experience.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this RFI, please
email [email protected]. You may also contact Alasdair Cain,
Director of Research, Development and Technology Coordination, Office
of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology (202-366-0934)
or by email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This RFI seeks information that will assist
OST-R in carrying out its transportation research and development
responsibilities under 49 U.S.C. Chapter 65, ``Research Planning''.
This RFI is neither a request for proposals nor a notice of funding
opportunity.
Respondents are requested to supply the following information at a
minimum in their written responses:
A. Name of the responding entity (``respondent'').
B. Respondent's Contact information, including that individual's
title, name,
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address, telephone number and email address.
C. The respondent's input to U.S. DOT transportation digital
infrastructure research and planning needs relating to any or all of
the questions below.
Specific Information Required
This RFI seeks feedback from the public, industry, technology
developers, State, local and tribal transportation agencies,
researchers, and other stakeholders on the research, development and
deployment activities necessary to develop a comprehensive, national
Transportation Digital Infrastructure (TDI) strategy. This includes
identifying opportunities for improved data exchange and
interoperability, cyber-resilience, asset management, and technology
integration across varied U.S. geographies and operational
environments. The insights gained through this RFI will inform a
research agenda that supports the development, deployment, and scaling
of digital infrastructure nationwide. The following presents key
questions in four critical topic areas.
A. Research, Development and Deployment
1. How should Transportation Digital Infrastructure be defined?
2. What TDI research needs should be prioritized?
3. What travel corridors or regions should be prioritized for TDI
development and deployment?
4. Are there existing testbeds, pilots or demonstrations that could
be leveraged?
5. What TDI use cases or applications should be prioritized?
6. How should U.S. DOT leverage or expand existing programs to
advance TDI development and deployment?
B. System Architecture, Interoperability and Standards
1. What are the key elements of a TDI system architecture that can
accommodate the operation of all transportation modes including
surface, maritime, and aviation?
2. How can TDI be integrated into infrastructure planning,
construction and asset management processes?
3. What methods should be used for federating data sharing across
States and regions?
4. What existing architecture frameworks or standards could be used
to underpin TDI development and deployment (e.g., U.S. DOT's
Architecture Reference for Cooperative and Intelligent Transportation
(ARC-IT))?
5. What are the necessary latency and throughput requirements for
safety-critical applications (e.g., Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)
communications, Automated Driving Systems (ADS), and Cooperative
Driving Automation (CDA))?
6. What are the highest-priority research gaps and challenges to
advancing interoperability across modes and sectors?
C. Artificial Intelligence and Automation
1. How should AI applications be leveraged to support TDI
development and deployment?
2. How should TDI be best used to accelerate the development and
deployment of autonomous vehicles, drones and other transformative
technologies?
3. What are the highest-value, near-time AI and automation
applications enabled by comprehensive sensing and data sharing?
4. How can AI applications be safely deployed to accommodate data
exchange and data use across jurisdictional boundaries?
D. Data Governance, Privacy, and Cybersecurity
1. What data governance principles, access controls, and
cybersecurity measures are needed to ensure trust, accountability, and
privacy?
2. What models or frameworks should be used to ensure secure data
exchange (e.g., data trusts, federated data sharing, and public
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs))?
3. What are the most significant threat vectors introduced by
extensive transportation system sensing and data integration, beyond
traditional Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT)
threats?
4. How should U.S. DOT apply the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) to TDI development
and deployment?
5. How should TDI be aligned with federal data strategies and
privacy frameworks?
6. How can legacy and proprietary data sources be effectively
incorporated into a new national data exchange environment?
Confidential Business Information
Do not submit information disclosure of which is restricted by
statute, such as trade secrets and commercial or financial information
(hereinafter referred to as Confidential Business Information ``CBI'')
in response to this RFI. Responses submitted to OST-R cannot be claimed
as CBI. Responses received by OST-R will waive any CBI claims for the
information submitted.
Issued in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2026.
Michael A. Halem,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology.
[FR Doc. 2026-02236 Filed 2-3-26; 8:45 am]
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