Will AI replace Transportation Planners?
AI reaches most of this job’s work.
67/100
Very high exposure
More exposed to AI than 95% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 3% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 95% of the work
What the job involves
Prepare studies for proposed transportation projects. Gather, compile, and analyze data. Study the use and operation of transportation systems. Develop transportation models or simulations.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(1)
- Prepare or review engineering studies or specifications.
Within reach(20)
- Define regional or local transportation planning problems or priorities.
- Prepare reports or recommendations on transportation planning.
- Collaborate with engineers to research, analyze, or resolve complex transportation design issues.
- Recommend transportation system improvements or projects, based on economic, population, land-use, or traffic projections.
- Analyze information related to transportation, such as land use policies, environmental impact of projects, or long-range planning needs.
and 15 more
Out of reach(1)
- 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.
Also called
Transportation Analyst · Transportation Planner · Planner · Program Officer · Transportation Data Programs Manager · Airway Transportation Systems Specialist (ATSS) · ATSS · Fleet Coordinator
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What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics