Making Infrastructure Last Longer – Is It Even Possible?

US Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg foresees that some of the heady concepts such as self-healing potholes will become reality through the newly formed Advanced Research Project Agency for Infrastructure, also known as ARPA-I. “Some of the sorts of innovation that might make that possible are well beyond something that is in the planning horizon for even the most forward-looking engineering company or state government,” Buttigieg said in an interview with The Verge. “So those are the kinds of things I think we’d go after if we have research taking place at this exceptionally high altitude.”

ARPA-I was authorized as part of the Biden administration’s signature $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that passed in 2021. The goal of the new agency is to futureproof the nation’s infrastructure against climate change, massive technology disruption, and the energy transition.

It is not clear which projects the ARPA-I researcher will ultimately take on but the article says that based conversations with people involved in the planning, it is likely to address several major themes, including climate change, road safety, clean energy, and environmental justice. Another point that came up during these conversations was “spatial awareness” and “spatial management”: the idea that the movement of people and goods is due for a major paradigm shift. There could be an opportunity for ARPA-I researchers to bring new technologies such as AI and data collection to better inform our “spatial intelligence” about our transport systems. One main concern about all these technologies is privacy. However, ARPA-I planners claim that they won’t be collecting data on individuals but rather on the broader movement of people, vehicles, and goods through public places.

According to Buttigieg, the main reason for the creation of this project is the following: “If we’re going to spend tens of billions of dollars every year maintaining and upgrading what we’ve got, let’s invest a little bit and figure out how to make what we have last longer,” he said. “Design things that we can’t even imagine today that might make some of today’s legacy technology unnecessary.” If APRA-I can produce results like the similar and long-standing project DARPA then we can expect good results. DARPA’s research, after all, has led to such areas key technologies as GPS tracking, many aspects of autonomous vehicles, and the internet.

Personal Comment:

Infrastructure is difficult, expensive, and time-intensive to change and update. This is quite different from digital technologies, but it also opens opportunities when the two are combined. That’s why I think it is a very good strategy to look for higher risk projects and research into far flung ideas, even if it includes less certainty for funders.

Moreover, if we consider autonomous system, CCAM, smart cities, and so on, the right infrastructure is an essential component to promote the growth of these technologies. Even though a more connected, autonomous, and intelligent world may be many years down the road, public officials need to understand the changes ahead and consider the modifications needed to accommodate such systems now. It is also worth asking ourselves if it is new technologies that will force the infrastructure to change or if changes in the infrastructure that will pave the way for technologies like autonomous systems to become a reality.

Ultimately, the question is how we can align the current infrastructure with the rapid expansion of autonomous systems and other technologies? Probably, such high-risk projects like ARPA-I are an important part of the solution. Hopefully the strategy pays off, and we can produce a more sustainable transport system, which would be good for everyone.                                           

The Written by Kateryna Melnyk,
RISE Mobility & Systems