How DOTs and Cities Will Deliver More with Fewer Resources in 2026 

With growing traffic demands, safety expectations, and shrinking budgets, how can DOTs and cities deliver smarter, safer mobility without stretching resources too thin? Let’s dive in below.

Transportation Agencies Are Facing Increased Demands With Limited Resources

In 2026, Departments of Transportation (DOTs), metropolitan traffic operations, and city public works teams are under unprecedented pressure to improve mobility, enhance safety, support equity, and deliver measurable outcomes, all with constrained budgets and staffing. Federal traffic safety targets, community demands for Vision Zero, and requirements for data transparency have increased the workload for agencies already struggling with resource limitations.

According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), infrastructure owners must now do more than maintain assets, they must monitor performance, adapt to evolving travel patterns, and use data to make decisions that improve safety and efficiency. At the same time, staffing shortages and budget constraints require agencies to find smarter, not just more, ways to operate. Source: Federal Highway Administration Traffic Monitoring Guide.

The Resource Challenge for DOTs and Cities in 2026

Several key trends are converging to widen the gap between expectations and available resources:

Aging Infrastructure and Expanding Service Expectations
Infrastructure maintenance and mobility improvements must continue even as capital and operating budgets tighten. Agencies are expected to address traffic flow, reduce congestion, and enhance safety without proportionally increasing funding.

Workforce Shortages and Institutional Knowledge Loss
Many DOTs report challenges in recruiting and retaining traffic engineers, data analysts, and field technicians. The Bureau of Labor Statistics highlights ongoing workforce shortages in key public sector roles.

Rising Public Expectations for Safety and Transparency
Communities expect near real time reporting on crashes, congestion, and mobility performance. Vision Zero road safety plans and Complete Streets policies require agencies to deliver continuous data, often with limited staff.

Federal and State Reporting Requirements
DOTs must comply with federal performance measures administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) and FHWA, such as safety performance, congestion management, and multimodal accessibility reporting. These requirements increase data collection and analysis workloads without increasing resources.

How Smart Technology Amplifies Agency Capacity

To bridge the gap between rising demand and limited resources, agencies are turning to technology that automates detection, analysis, and reporting. These tools allow DOTs and cities to deliver more without adding staff or increasing operating expenses.

AI Traffic Sensors Enable Continuous Monitoring

Artificial intelligence enabled traffic sensors provide continuous, reliable traffic data without constant human oversight. Devices such as Omnisight’s FusionSensor combine video and radar detection with on device processing, enabling agencies to capture:

• Vehicle counts, classification, and speed profiles

• Pedestrian and cyclist activity

• Congestion patterns

• Incident detection and alerts

Because the processing happens on the device (edge computing), agencies reduce bandwidth and cloud computing costs while gaining timely insights. Research from the University of California, Berkeley Transportation Systems Lab shows that real time, localized traffic detection can enhance safety analytics and support adaptive operations.

Edge Computing Reduces Latency and Resource Burden

Edge computing enables data processing at or near the point of capture, eliminating reliance on centralized cloud servers for time critical analysis. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) highlights that edge computing reduces latency and enhances reliability for real time decision systems.

For agency operations, this means:

• Faster detection and alerting for congestion and incidents

• Reduced data transmission costs

• Fewer centralized infrastructure demands

• More scalable deployments across many intersections or corridors

By shifting analytics to the edge, agencies can stretch limited IT and network resources further without sacrificing data quality or performance.

Automated Reporting Supports Performance Based Decisions

Traditional traffic data analytics often require manual processing of raw counts, speeds, and event logs. Modern analytics platforms automate this work, delivering ready made reports that support planning, safety reviews, grant applications, and board reporting.

Automated tools provide:

• Daily, weekly, and annual summary reports

• Crash risk heatmaps

• Congestion trend analysis

• Work zone performance dashboards

According to the Transportation Research Board (TRB), automated analytics reduce staff workload and improve the accuracy and timeliness of decision ready traffic data.

Strategic Priorities for 2026

Vision Zero and Traffic Safety Without Additional Staff

Vision Zero initiatives require data that quantifies safety performance and identifies high risk locations. AI-powered sensors provide continuous, automated detection of speed violations, crossing conflicts, and near miss events without manual field observation, supporting targeted interventions with minimal human effort.

Work Zone Safety on Tight Budgets

Work zones present a unique safety challenge. Instead of relying on manual flaggers and temporary counters, agencies can deploy AI enabled sensors mounted on attenuator trucks or on temporary poles. These devices monitor vehicle intrusion, speed spikes, and lane encroachments in real time, enabling proactive alerts without increasing field personnel.

Deployments, such as Omnisight’s work with the Missouri Department of Transportation, demonstrate how edge driven hazard detection improves safety outcomes while reducing manual monitoring requirements.

Scaling Multimodal Analytics Without Field Visits

Demand for pedestrian, bicycle, and transit usage data is increasing, yet traditional data collection techniques (manual counts, field visits) are expensive and labor intensive. Continuous sensing provides:

• Multimodal volume counts

• Pedestrian wait times and crossing patterns

• Bicycle traffic trends

• Transit stop dwell times

These insights support equity analysis, grant reporting, and infrastructure design without repeated field deployments.

Research from the University of Minnesota’s Accessibility Observatory shows that automated multimodal data supports equitable planning outcomes, particularly in underserved neighborhoods.

Organizational Shifts That Multiply Impact

To do more with less, agencies are also changing how they operate:

Data Sharing Across Departments
Breaking down silos between planning, operations, and enforcement enhances internal efficiency and enables shared insight without redundant deployments.

Regional Collaboration
Sharing sensor infrastructure between neighboring cities or counties allows local transportation agencies to divide costs and increase coverage.

Performance Based Funding Decisions
With automated analytics, agencies can demonstrate ROI on safety measures, congestion relief projects, and multimodal investments in grant and budget hearings.

Recommendations for Transportation Leaders

DOTs and city agencies planning for 2026 should consider these approaches:

Invest in Edge Enabled AI Traffic Sensing
Prioritize sensor technologies that deliver continuous, accurate data with minimal maintenance.

Standardize Data Outputs
Ensure data formats are compatible with automated reporting tools, ATMS/ATC platforms, and performance dashboards.

Leverage Automated Analytics Platforms
Choose systems that generate decision ready reports without manual processing.

Focus on High Value Deployments
Target intersections, corridors, work zones, and multimodal hotspots where continuous data delivers the greatest impact.

Conclusion

In 2026, transportation agencies cannot continue operating with outdated data collection methods and manual workflows. With shrinking budgets, workforce challenges, and rising public expectations, DOTs and cities must adopt smarter, automated tools that deliver high value traffic and safety insights with minimal human intervention. By embracing edge based AI, sensor fusion, and automated analytics, agencies can do more with less — improving safety, optimizing operations, and making better data driven decisions without increasing costs. AI powered tools like Omnisight’s FusionSensor with TrueEdge processing provide the real time intelligence agencies need to maximize impact, stretch limited resources, and build resilient, future ready transportation systems.