Eno remains engaged with stakeholders and researchers in the area of technology-enabled transportation innovation and solutions through research reports, webinars, ETW articles, and face-to-face interactions. Experts from academia as well as the public and private sectors contributed to ETW op-eds and webinars covering topics such as data sharing; safety and accessibility for people with disabilities in the context of automated vehicles; new mobility; shared fleets, and connected vehicles.

Trends in transportation and technology continuously evolve, and some last longer than others. Eno stayed on top of the rise of dockless bikeshare to its replacement of other shared electric micromobility options.

January 2018

July 2018

Eno has long been engaged in issues of good governance in transportation authorities across the country and at all levels of governments. From our influential work on air traffic control reform to our recent research on governance structures at transit agencies, Eno has been a trusted source of recommendations for elected officials, state and city DOT leadership, transit agencies, airports, port authorities, and MPOs.

Safety is the FAA’s most important mission. The 2018 reauthorization directly addressed safety certification to adapt to a rapidly-changing industry. In 2017, Eno, with input from our Aviation Working Group, released a comprehensive new report—Safer, Faster, Cheaper: Aviation Certification for the 21st Century—that made the case for an updated, streamlined federal process that was more flexible and agile. The overarching goal is to shift the FAA’s focus from simply complying with prescriptive government mandates (outputs), to the impacts of the requirements (outcomes). We are pleased that many of these performance-based recommendations are part of the final legislation passed in 2018.

Importantly, our 2017 report urges the FAA to develop better metrics in order to measure the impact of the certification process. We called for the creation of a body to provide advice and recommendations to the Transportation Secretary on issues of safety certification. The 2018 law creates a Safety Oversight and Certification Advisory Committee (SOCAC) and directs it to, among other things, apply and track performance metrics. Related is our call for standardized education and testing of certification engineers and the law’s requirement for a procedures manual and centralized office at the FAA to ensure consistency.

Looking ahead, the Eno report also recommended that, when inevitably certifying new airspace products or users like drones, the FAA should not let itself fall into the tradition of mandating designs. Instead, it should work with the industry to develop performance standards that allow drones and space vehicles to safely operate and integrate into the national airspace, while allowing innovative solutions that account for technological advances. Here again, the focus should be on the outcomes and the law directs the FAA to develop a process for accepting risk-informed safety standards for UAS. How the FAA develops this process is critically important.

Related Research

Following that, in the paper, Tools for a Smoother Ride: Managing Rail Assets and Leveraging Competition, Eno examined rail maintenance program needs resulting in a practical and actionable 5-step process for transit agencies. The process guides agencies to improve their asset management practices to ensure a state of good repair. Through virtual education and Eno’s professional development programs for transit agencies, Eno has already shared the recommendations in the report with hundreds of leaders, to educate and encourage implementation.

Related Research

America is experiencing a period of disruptive economic, demographic, and technological change. These changes are altering urban-rural relationships, enhancing the economic power of the nation’s major metropolitan regions, exacerbating income inequality, and often isolating communities. Transportation investments and inventions have enabled the nation to respond to great change throughout our history.

Eno will explore relationships between the nation’s principal transportation institutions at the local, state, and regional levels, as well as shifts in patterns of urban mobility, labor market accessibility, and patterns of urban development. Eno seeks to identify policy solutions to the impact of these economic, demographic, and technological changes on the institutions that govern operational and capital decision-making for our transportation system.

Across the transportation industry, workforce development issues are at the forefront of executives’ minds. Eno has a long history of developing transportations leaders through our peer exchange programs, Future Leaders Development Conference, and transit leadership courses.

In 2018, Eno conducted research on two transportation workforce issues that will be released in 2019.

The first project was a synthesis report of the current state of practice for transportation workforce planning and development strategies at state departments of transportation (SDOTs) and associated local and tribal technical assistance programs (LTAPs/TTAPs). This work was funded by the Transportation Research Board’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program, and identified challenges, opportunities, and lessons learned through a literature review, survey, and selected case studies of SDOTs and LTAPs/TTAPs. Findings from this work indicated that there is no clear consensus among states on how to handle workforce challenges, which may be the result difference in institutional structures and variance in funding streams between states. Nevertheless, this synthesis showed activity, interest, and need for continued transportation workforce strategies.

The second project was a review of workforce challenges across the six critical sectors of the aviation industry: professional airplane pilots, air traffic controllers, the aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul workforce, airport workers, flight attendants, and the aerospace manufacturing workforce. The report discusses mixed evidence of aviation workforce shortages, but points to the possibility of pipeline challenges, that is, issues that may deter potential workers from pursuing careers in aviation. Additional themes discussed were the changing nature of jobs due to technology, shifting workforce demographics, increased wages, and industry competition with respect to retaining workers.

In 2019 we will build on this work to provide a comprehensive look at the transportation workforce, focused on meeting the five goals below to provide government and industry leaders with timely research and an independent voice on policy issues. Eno will publish rigorous, objective research and analyses, as well as convene cross-sector stakeholders to share their expertise. Based on research, convening, and analysis, Eno will develop actionable recommendations and use our professional development programs to spread ideas for practical implementation. This project will help public and private sector stakeholders understand the current and future needs of the transportation workforce, identify strategies to address skills and knowledge gaps, and diagnose blockages in the talent pipeline for the transportation sector.

One of the distinguishing aspects of Eno’s work is our transparent and collaborative research process. We include diverse stakeholders in the discovery and research process through interviews and roundtable discussions while including our broader network with a comprehensive communication strategy. To ensure the relevance and effectiveness of the Workforce Initiative, Eno will employ the following key strategies:

As the leader in its field for nearly a century, Eno provides government and industry leaders with timely research and a pragmatic, fact-based voice on policy issues. Eno publishes rigorous, objective analyses on the problems facing transportation and provides ideas for and a clear path toward possible solutions.  Based on research, convening, and analysis, Eno serves as an unbiased, expert source of information on provocative transportation topics, many of which have not yet been examined with academic rigor or independence.

Under Senior Fellow and Editor Jeff Davis, ETW continues to lead conversation and provide indispensable analysis. ETW is required reading for everyone including state and local leaders, private sector professionals, academics, Congressional staff, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and agencies across the Executive Branch.

2018 marked 25 years that Eno has hosted the nation’s top 20 transportation graduate students in Washington, DC to attend the Future Leadership Development Conference (LDC) and become Eno Fellows. During this weeklong, intensive program, the Fellows meet with federal, state, and local officials, as well as public, private, and non-profit leaders across the industry. They get a first-hand look at how transportation policy is made, while engaging with leaders to discuss the latest developments and trends in the industry.

This year’s Eno Fellows heard from industry professionals from across the transportation industry including, non-profits, federal agencies, U.S. Representatives, lobbyists, the private sector, and many more. Topics such as federal funding, how lobbying really works, the state of the industry, aviation, and transportation technology were included throughout the week.

Some of the issues that Eno has already identified as areas of focus for 2019 include:

Eno acts as the hub of an extensive network of transportation professionals. We convene and empower cross-sector networks of government, business, nonprofit, and philanthropic leaders at all levels. These leaders work together to solve problems, develop new solutions, and advocate for broader reforms. Eno’s board of directors, a board of advisors, and board of regents provide valuable input and advice

Thanks to the generosity of a diverse and growing number of partners and members across the transportation industry, Eno continues to deliver excellent research and analysis and top-notch professional development programs.

In all our endeavors, Eno focuses on our mission and is guided by our institutional values: integrity, independence, objectivity, quality, and relevance. We do not seek or accept financial support that would undermine those values or compromise our commitment to remain unbiased and independent.

AECOME-Washington DC
Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc
Foothill Transit
HDR, Inc.
JITI
NCDOT
Transdev
TxDOT
WSP