AI Automation Index

Will AI Replace Transportation Planners?

Task-level automation exposure for Transportation Planners: 22 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.

E-E-A-T Verified

Developed & audited by Gini Loh

Automation Exposure

60% weighted task index

22 of 22 tasks scored

Median Salary

$101,110 / year

BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation

Employment Level

Medium

37,100 people hold this job — size, not growth

Projected 2025–35

-0.2% employment change

2,700 openings a year · BLS line item

Pay by state

BLS OEWS publishes 50 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.

$73,920 – $140,670

Highest medians

Virginia $140,670

Maryland $131,810

District of Columbia $128,440

Massachusetts $105,640

Colorado $105,390

Lowest medians

Maine $73,920

Puerto Rico $76,400

North Dakota $76,400

Arkansas $76,400

Kentucky $78,850

State figures come from the 19-3099 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.

What the score is made of

Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.

Automation potential 60%

Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.

Physical work 0%

Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.

Judgment & influence 56%

Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.

Routine administration 22%

Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.

Rewritten by O*NET 0%

Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.

Consequence of error 5/100 Low

O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.

Constituent Task Mix

22 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.

High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 67%

14 tasks

Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 27%

6 tasks

Low exposure (below 35%) 6%

2 tasks

How would you survive?

Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.

Simulate Upskilling →

Constituent Tasks

#16953 · Core · 63% automatable

Define regional or local transportation planning problems or priorities.

data analysis — Diagnoses operational problems from data; human acts

Analyze data to identify or resolve operational problems. Determine causes of operational problems or failures.

#16945 · Core · 55% automatable

Participate in public meetings or hearings to explain planning proposals, to gather feedback from those affected by projects, or to achieve consensus on project designs.

interpersonal — Public environmental communication needs trust and accountability

Communicate with the public on environmental issues.

#16943 · Core · 72% automatable

Prepare reports or recommendations on transportation planning.

text generation — Reports drafted; presentations need human delivery

Prepare scientific or technical reports or presentations.

#16951 · Core · 60% automatable

Collaborate with engineers to research, analyze, or resolve complex transportation design issues.

decision support — Technical design collaboration aided; humans own decisions

Collaborate with technical specialists to resolve design or development problems.

#16952 · Core · 55% automatable

Recommend transportation system improvements or projects, based on economic, population, land-use, or traffic projections.

decision support — Policy analysis drafted; political judgment human

Advise others on matters of public policy.

#16948 · Core · 40% automatable

Develop computer models to address transportation planning issues.

decision support — Physical theory needs expert scientific judgment

Develop theories or models of physical phenomena.

#16954 · Core · 62% automatable

Analyze information related to transportation, such as land use policies, environmental impact of projects, or long-range planning needs.

data analysis — Regulatory impact appraisal; human owns policy call

Appraise environmental impact of regulations or policies.

#20976 · Core · 70% automatable

Interpret data from traffic modeling software, geographic information systems, or associated databases.

data analysis — Interprets data; domain expert validates meaning

Interpret research or operational data.

#16949 · Core · 55% automatable

Design transportation surveys to identify areas of public concern.

decision support — Methods drafted; methodological rigor human

Develop methods of social or economic research.

#19779 · Core · 60% automatable

Collaborate with other professionals to develop sustainable transportation strategies at the local, regional, or national level.

decision support — Technical design collaboration aided; humans own decisions

Collaborate with technical specialists to resolve design or development problems.

#20978 · Core · 70% automatable

Evaluate transportation project needs or costs.

data analysis — Cost-benefit analysis from given inputs; human reviews

Analyze costs and benefits of proposed designs or projects.

#16941 · Core · 80% automatable

Analyze information from traffic counting programs.

data analysis — Trend and relationship detection in data

Analyze data to identify trends or relationships among variables. Analyze traffic data.

#16942 · Core · 60% automatable

Review development plans for transportation system effects, infrastructure requirements, or compliance with applicable transportation regulations.

decision support — Policy analysis aided, but civic judgment is human

Evaluate civic projects or public policies.

#20979 · Core · 72% automatable

Prepare necessary documents to obtain planned project approvals or permits.

text generation — Draft permit docs; human verifies requirements

Prepare documentation for permits or licenses.

#16944 · Core · 72% automatable

Produce environmental documents, such as environmental assessments or environmental impact statements.

text generation — Environmental reports drafted; human verifies data

Prepare research or technical reports on environmental issues.

#16934 · Core · 72% automatable

Prepare or review engineering studies or specifications.

text generation — Reports drafted; presentations need human delivery

Prepare scientific or technical reports or presentations.

#16938 · Core · 40% automatable

Develop or test new methods or models of transportation analysis.

decision support — Physical theory needs expert scientific judgment

Develop theories or models of physical phenomena.

#20980 · Core · 60% automatable

Evaluate transportation-related consequences of federal or state legislative proposals.

decision support — Policy analysis aided, but civic judgment is human

Evaluate civic projects or public policies.

#20977 · Core · 50% automatable

Design new or improved transport infrastructure, such as junction improvements, pedestrian projects, bus facilities, or car parking areas.

decision support — AI drafts civil designs; licensed engineer verifies and stamps

Design civil structures or systems.

#16939 · Core · 70% automatable

Define or update information such as urban boundaries or classification of roadways.

text generation — Draft legal/regulatory docs; human verifies

Prepare information or documentation related to legal or regulatory matters.

#16937 · Core · 33% automatable

Direct urban traffic counting programs.

interpersonal — Directing scientific activities needs judgment and leadership

Direct scientific activities.

#16935 · Supplemental · 21% automatable

Represent jurisdictions in the legislative or administrative approval of land development projects.

interpersonal — External representation requires human presence and authority

Represent the interests of clients in legal proceedings. Represent the organization in external relations.

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Community Sentiment

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Method

How this was scored

1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.

Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.

Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast

See the full method →

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