USDOT: Major challenges for 2018 include cybersecurity, highway and rail safety

In an annual report on pressing management challenges, the U.S. Department of Transportation said that safety remains the agency’s top priority.    The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) says that various safety issues, including those in surface transportation infrastructure, highway and rail and aviation, are among the major challenges that it expects to deal with during 2018.
   In an annual mandated report on pressing management challenges that was released on Nov. 15, the DOT said that safety remains its top priority.
   “Although DOT continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to improving the safety of our airspace, roads, pipelines, railways, and transit, key challenges remain,” the 58-page report states in part. “For example, while overseeing the safe operation of about 45,000 commercial flights a day, DOT must enhance its collaboration with industry and other stakeholders to address safety vulnerabilities.
   “At the same time, the department must continue to target oversight to the greatest safety risks to our transit systems, network of highway bridges and tunnels, and pipelines,” it added.
   “The department also faces the challenge of reshaping the programs and policies that protect all its transportation systems in the face of increasing cyberattacks and security breaches,” USDOT said. “To minimize threats against DOT’s more than 450 information systems and resolve existing vulnerabilities, DOT must ensure it can recruit and maintain a skilled workforce that can adapt to evolving threats and plan effective cybersecurity strategies.”
   Among the top management challenge areas for fiscal year 2018 are:
      • Surface transportation infrastructure safety, with key focus areas being transit safety oversight, highway bridges and tunnels, and hazardous materials and pipelines;
     • Highway and rail safety. Key focus areas mentioned include data collection and analysis, high-risk motor carriers, and safety-enhancing technology;
     • Aviation safety, with key focus areas being cockpit safety and security, the regional airline industry, suspected unapproved parts and runway safety;
     • Modernization of the National Airspace System. Key focus areas include advancing air traffic infrastructure, and strengthening resiliency;
     • And cybersecurity. Key focus areas include the DOT’s cybersecurity workforce, cloud service providers, the Internet of Things, and coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
   The DOT also said other challenges include the safe integration of drones, referred to by the government as unmanned aircraft systems, into the national airspace. Key focus areas include regulatory challenges, oversight and enforcement of such aircraft, according to the DOT.
   “The growing use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems and their integration into the National Airspace System also present some of the most significant safety challenges faced by DOT and the Federal Aviation Administration in decades,” according to the report.