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WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced seven transportation plans to build a more resilient, affordable, and globally competitive transportation system. The action plans—covering key modes of the transportation sector including maritime, rail, trucking, aviation, and off-road—were developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), along with industry and other stakeholders. Each action plan identifies strategies to accelerate innovation, expand affordable options for consumers, unlock private sector action, and ultimately deliver a better transportation system for all Americans.
The action plans are being showcased at the 2025 Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., where more than 10,000 policymakers, government and industry leaders, and members of academia convene to discuss all transportation modes. Representatives from DOE's Office of Sustainable Transportation and Fuels are participating on multiple panels, meetings, and conversations at TRB to discuss the action plans, talk about next steps, frameworks for successful implementation, and how these actions can benefit businesses and consumers.
The U.S. transportation system's trucks, ships, trains, and planes move $49 billion worth of goods each year. Transportation is critical to the national economic ecosystem and key to global competition. However, the transportation sector also accounts for 33% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions as well as other pollutants that increase risk for asthma, heart disease, and other health issues, especially in communities near highways, ports, railyards, and warehouses.
"Vehicles move us and our economy, transporting people and goods across 3 trillion vehicle miles annually. But transportation remains the second highest expense for consumers and is a significant source of emissions," said Michael Berube, deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Sustainable Transportation and Fuels. "These Energy and Innovation Action Plans provide strategies to increase innovation and U.S. global competitiveness while also reducing emissions and cost. TRB is the ideal venue to roll out these plans for discussion among transportation-sector leaders with shared goals to provide better, more reliable, and affordable choices to consumers."
In 2023, DOE, DOT, EPA, and HUD partnered with transportation industry stakeholders to release the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization (Blueprint). The Blueprint provides a roadmap for innovative transportation fueling and vehicle technologies across every mode of transportation to expand affordable and accessible transportation options. It takes a systems approach to address overall efficiency and convenience across the sector and focuses on realistic, cost-effective approaches, considering viewpoints from industry and stakeholders.
For more information about the action plans and to read them in full, visit DOE's Blueprint website.
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