# Will transportation engineers be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Transportation engineers score 46 out of 100 for AI exposure. AI helps with 73% of their task time, and they stay in charge. AI can do another 6%. 21% needs a person. - **6%** AI can do it - **73%** AI helps - **21%** Needs a person Moderate exposure Higher than 65% of the 923 jobs we scored. ## Task by task We graded 26 tasks, most exposed first. AI can do 2 of them, helps with 18 and leaves 6 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Prepare administrative, technical, or statistical reports on traffic-operation matters, such as accidents, safety measures, or pedestrian volume or practices. Drafting reports from traffic data is largely writing work. | 70% AI can do it | | Analyze environmental impact statements for transportation projects. AI can review and summarize lengthy environmental document text. | 60% AI helps | | Develop or assist in the development of transportation-related computer software or computer processes. Coding assistants draft much of the software; engineers review. | 60% AI can do it | | Prepare project budgets, schedules, or specifications for labor or materials. Specs, budgets and schedules are largely templated writing. | 55% AI helps | | Check construction plans, design calculations, or cost estimations to ensure completeness, accuracy, or conformity to engineering standards or practices. AI can scan plans and calcs for errors; engineer verifies. | 50% AI helps | ## How transportation engineers compare All jobs (923) Architecture and engineering (56) The dark line is **transportation engineers, at 46**. Each dot is a score, and darker dots mean more jobs share it. The short marks are the averages, 37 for all jobs and 47 for architecture and engineering. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $100,840 a year, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +6.4% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Calibrate PTV Vissim microsimulation models against field counts - Design alignments and grading in OpenRoads Designer - Hold a Professional Engineer license and stamp designs - Earn the ITE Professional Traffic Operations Engineer credential - Direct surveying and staking on active construction sites - Run materials sampling and field inspection on completed projects ## Safer roles nearby 5 related jobs with lower scores. - [Civil engineers45 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/civil-engineers/) - [Traffic technicians38 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/traffic-technicians/) - [Highway maintenance workers8 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/highway-maintenance-workers/) - [Building inspectors34 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/building-inspectors/) - [Engineering managers43 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/engineering-managers/) ## Questions about transportation engineers and AI Will AI replace transportation engineers? Partly. About 4 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly drafting traffic-operation reports and writing project budgets, schedules, and specifications. Field staking, materials testing, and site inspection stay with people, since those tasks need someone physically present on the job. Which transportation engineer tasks will AI take over? Drafting traffic-operation reports is the most exposed task, with an exposure score of 70. AI can turn accident, safety, and pedestrian count data into written summaries. Review of environmental impact statements scores 60, because AI can summarize long document text. Cost estimating scores 50, since software speeds up quantity takeoffs. Which transportation engineer tasks stay human? Directing surveying and staking scores lowest at 8, because layout is a physical field task. Supervising maintenance crews scores 15, since it requires presence on site. Field inspection of completed projects scores 20, because it depends on physical presence and site judgment. How can transportation engineers stay valuable? Spend field hours on staking, materials sampling, and inspection, since those tasks need you on site. Keep your Professional Engineer license current so you can stamp designs that AI helped draft. Build and check models in OpenRoads Designer and PTV Vissim, so you can catch AI errors in plans and calculations. ## Related jobs - [Transportation planners56 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/transportation-planners/) - [Civil engineering technicians52 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/civil-engineering-technicians/) - [Construction managers47 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/construction-managers/) - [Environmental engineers54 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/environmental-engineers/) ## Next steps for transportation engineers - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV to see which tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) - ### Estimate team savings The score is per person. Add headcount and salary to see the hours AI can take on in a team of transportation engineers, and what they cost. [Estimate what AI saves a team of transportation engineers](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/team-ai-audit/?role=transportation-engineers) [Work out the return on automation](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-savings-calculator/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Roustabouts score lowest, at 6.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Pediatric surgeons earn a median $559,030 and score 29.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Roustabouts need little prior training and score 6.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**AI helps with 98% of the task time for health informatics specialists.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we score, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 job groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Sources and licences Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.