Modern intelligent transportation systems (ITS) increasingly rely on automation, artificial intelligence, and advanced data analytics to improve safety, efficiency, and mobility. As these technologies mature, the transportation sector faces a growing demand for a workforce that combines strong technical foundations with transdisciplinary skills that integrate engineering, data science, planning, and human factors. Building on this need, prior work titled “Bridging Silos: A Vision for a Transdisciplinary Transportation Engineering Workforce” documented persistent gaps in workforce integration across the transportation field. Findings from a survey of transportation experts revealed limited collaboration among civil engineering, artificial intelligence, and planning disciplines, despite widespread recognition of its importance.
Transdisciplinary education is essential for preparing future professionals to address complex, real-world transportation challenges, as it promotes systems thinking, collaboration, and adaptive problem-solving beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. Traditional educational pathways have struggled to respond to these needs due to slow curricular change and institutional barriers, resulting in a misalignment between academic preparation and the rapidly evolving expectations of the transportation industry. This project addresses these challenges through early, proactive intervention at the K–12 level. By developing an innovative curriculum that combines augmented reality (AR) technologies with hands-on, experiential learning activities, the project introduces students to foundational concepts in transdisciplinary transportation systems. The curriculum is designed to spark curiosity, strengthen technological literacy, and cultivate systems thinking at an early age, thereby creating a pipeline of future learners better prepared to engage with the technological, societal, and interdisciplinary demands of modern transportation engineering.
Exhibit D
