The trending popularity of streetcars, for example, is due to that community-shaping perspective as well as to the increasing recognition that transportation is tied inextricably to economic development. "Another thing coming of age is the talk of value capture," Guzzetti says, pointing to examples of special property assessments due to proximity of light rail or streetcars. "It has been a lot of talk up to now, but it's starting to actually happen."

After years of the industry calling the government's attention to the rail-freight network, especially rail, the shale-oil boom is finally garnering that attention and making the case for the transportation-economic tie. "We'll see further down the road, 10 to 15 years or so, a coming together of how we move freight [and] people and do we combine some of that," says Boggs. There's a lot of disconnect right now. Class 1 railroads are setting an example with their capital plans. It would be nice if they and DOTs would look at these things more collaboratively to create common corridors and make the footprint a little bit smarter."

John Porcari, former U.S. DOT deputy secretary and now senior vice president with Parsons Brinckerhoff, notes encouraging federal developments. For example, TIGER grants helped fund a National Gateway project building double-stack clearances and intermodal yards across six states.

In the current legislation, "there is more emphasis on freight movement [and] metropolitan planning and a greater recognition that transportation has to serve regions," Porcari says.

Still, there are a lot of unknowns. "The scary thing is that nobody knows how technology will change infrastructure—only that it will," says Schank. "It's like how we didn't know how iPhones would influence our daily lives."

Hope Ahead

Despite transportation's perpetual status of being somewhat ignored amid the flurry of issues debated in Congress, Porcari holds out hope that, over time, "we will return to bipartisanship." He and others point to the relatively painless passage of the Water Resources Development Act last year, which authorizes various marine-related transportation projects.

"Two years ago, I would have doubted there was any chance of it passing," he says. "Now the trend lines are in the right direction."

The increasing number of states that are passing budgets with increased local revenue sources for transportation is one good sign. Federal pilot programs that allow for some tolling of the existing interstate in conjunction with needed improvements are another. "I'd like to see a continued relaxation of federal tolling restrictions on the interstate system," adds Victoria Cross Kelly, northeast strategic operations manager for Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Richard Wolsfeld, president of AECOM's transportation division, sees potential future revenue sources through technology. "I can see a transponder getting you through parking ramps, drive-throughs and so on," he says. "Technology will open up some alternatives to funding that we right now cannot do."

Ultimately, though, the solutions lie in the hands of the next generation of transportation professionals wielding those alternatives. Says William Shelor, a Parsons Corp. senior vice president, "I think the millennials are very creative and innovative and will find solutions we haven't even contemplated."