As part of Department of Transportation's plans to modernize the U.S.'s highway infrastructure, the agency issued a new contract opportunity seeking artificial intelligence and data analytics-based solutions. A program under the agency's Federal Highway Administration called for proposals featuring artificial intelligence technology to improve the current national highway design system. The technology developed within this contract will impact the planning, construction and maintenance of the nation's highways. A spokesperson for the FHWA informed Nextgov the projects' goal is to successfully transform highway transportation with AI technology, and that, following the projects' individual outcomes, officials will decide how to implement it across the transportation sector. "With the growing number of maturing and commercial applications, there still is a need for early state research to support emerging advances in AI that can solve even more complex questions in highway transportation," the RFI notes.

The Department of Transportation is soliciting applicants to integrate artificial intelligence and environmental analytics into highway …

The Department of Transportation says it wants to remove barriers to innovation in autonomous car technology. Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption The Department of Transportation says it wants to remove barriers to innovation in autonomous car technology. The Department of Transportation has announced new federal voluntary guidance on the development and use of automated vehicles -- with the goal of "removing unnecessary barriers" to innovation. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao said Thursday that the department's 80-page "Automated Vehicles 3.0" guidance "supports the safe, reliable and cost-effective integration of automation into our country's surface transportation systems." The department indicated it was open to changing current standards that require all cars to have steering wheels, brakes and accelerator pedals.