Golden Age of Transportation

Lee White came to DOT after 42 years in the private sector, 35 of them at UPS, where his final role involved directing transportation technology strategy, and later a stint as VP of strategy at a Level 4 autonomous trucking company. That background shapes how he talks about the road ahead: he expects more disruption in the next five years than in the previous four decades combined, citing drones, eVTOLs, supersonic flight, commercial space, and autonomous vehicles as forces reshaping what used to be a simpler picture of planes, trains, automobiles, and ships.

Safety, he’s clear, remains the department’s foundational priority, but he frames it as compatible with, not opposed to, faster innovation. The eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, spanning eight projects across 26 states, is his example of regulators and industry moving through that process together rather than sequentially.

White also connects transportation policy to the broader industrial base conversation: America’s ports and inland waterways face real competitive pressure from other countries investing heavily in their own infrastructure, and he argues strengthening domestic supply chains is now as much a national security question as an economic one. He’s candid that US shipbuilding and maritime capacity have fallen behind and need meaningful investment. On AI and autonomy, he points to vehicle-to-everything technology and safety systems as tools that could meaningfully reduce the tens of thousands of American traffic deaths each year, alongside broader gains in congestion management.

Key Takeaways from the Conversation

• The pace of change is unusual. White expects more transportation disruption in the next five years than he saw across his entire 42-year career, driven by drones, eVTOLs, supersonic flight, commercial space, and autonomous vehicles.
• DOT’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program spans 26 states and eight projects, designed to let regulators and industry work through safety and deployment timelines together rather than in sequence.
• America’s ports and waterways face real competitive pressure. White points to inland waterways as an underappreciated strategic asset and describes growing competition for cargo volume from other countries’ port and rail investments.
• Maritime and shipbuilding capacity needs a serious rebuild. White cites a shortfall in mariners graduating each year and describes shipbuilding capability as an area requiring sustained investment.
• AI and connected-vehicle technology are framed as safety tools first. White ties the roughly 40,000 annual US traffic deaths directly to the opportunity AI and autonomy represent for improving road safety.

Why This Conversation Matters

DOT sits at the intersection of nearly every theme this series covers this season, industrial base, advanced air mobility, autonomy, and supply chain resilience, making this a useful anchor conversation for how the federal government is trying to move fast on all of them at once, safely.

About the Guest

Lee White is Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology at the US Department of Transportation. He spent 42 years in the transportation industry, including 35 years at UPS, followed by a role as Vice President of Strategy at a Level 4 autonomous vehicle trucking company, and three years running his own consulting firm before joining DOT.