![Critical Issues header TRB Weekly.jpg](https://mcusercontent.com/4f1f5aad1cdf8802c08a457cb/images/e188d062-5b37-5f14-0290-dc577ef30954.jpg)
Critical Issues Calls for Reassessing the Role of Transportation in Addressing Major Societal Challenges
- A massive shift away from fossil fuels to clean energy has begun that will require a complete turnover of hundreds of millions of motor vehicles by 2050 to help meet national decarbonization goals.
- Commuting to work has changed dramatically because of the COVID-19 pandemic in ways that pose significant threats to public transportation.
- Ten thousand more people died from road crashes in 2022 than 10 years ago.
- Society at large is grappling with the nation’s history of racial discrimination and increasing disparities in wealth and incomes.
![VS Headshot thumb - Copy.jpg](https://mcusercontent.com/4f1f5aad1cdf8802c08a457cb/images/a78cd2ed-4a13-c77b-ddbe-af94248a5fbb.jpg)
The dynamic changes being driven by these and other environmental, public health, and socioeconomic forces require reassessing the role of transportation in addressing societal challenges and the research that informs the choices that society will need to make in 2024 and the coming years.
For the latest edition of Critical Issues in Transportation, released today, the Transportation Research Board’s Executive Committee chose to focus on five complex and broad societal goals, and the various ways that transportation is vitally important to them. We hope you find ways to connect Critical Issues to your work. The report is now available in full online.
Happy New Year,
![Victoria signature JPG.JPG](https://mcusercontent.com/4f1f5aad1cdf8802c08a457cb/images/7688eda9-0b29-46c4-2f97-d0fa75e8aabf.jpg)
Victoria Sheehan, TRB Executive Director
|