New AV Rules, Innovation Grants, and System Rollouts
DOT Tech News
March 3, 2026 · Transportation Technology Briefing
Good morning, DOT tech nerds and professionals. This week, transportation technology is moving on three fronts at once: federal regulators are clearing the road for autonomous vehicles, states are funding the next wave of innovation, and agencies are doing the hard work of getting staff ready for new systems. The future is arriving; the question is whether your organization is prepared to meet it.
In this week's DOT Tech News:
Wyoming DOT Shuts Down Driver Services Offices to Train Staff on New MAX and OneWYO Systems
Kansas DOT Opens $2M Innovation Grant Program for Fall 2025
DOT Plans Three New Rules to Strip Human-Driver Requirements From Autonomous Vehicle Safety Standards
Wyoming DOT Shuts Down Driver Services Offices to Train Staff on New MAX and OneWYO Systems
WYDOT is temporarily closing three southeast Wyoming Driver Services offices this month to train employees on MAX and oneWYO, its incoming replacement for a decades-old driver records platform.
WYDOT's current Revenue Information Sharing software is outdated and shared across multiple state programs and law enforcement agencies. MAX replaces it entirely. The public-facing component, oneWYO, will let residents handle more Driver Services transactions online. WYDOT built the system alongside IT partners Kyndryl and AstreaX, who previously deployed a similar platform in Arizona. MAX goes live this fall.
Closures hit Cheyenne, Laramie, and Rawlins between September 8–12, with staggered schedules designed to keep at least some locations accessible. WYDOT Driver Services Program Manager Misty Zimmerman said the agency intentionally spaced closures to minimize public disruption, though residents may need extra travel time. Closure schedules appear on the Driver Services locations map at dot.state.wy.us/driverservices.
For agencies and vendors, this rollout is a textbook example of the operational tradeoffs that come with replacing legacy government software — even a short training window requires shutting down public-facing services for days across multiple offices.
Why it matters: DOT agencies replacing aging driver and revenue systems face real service disruption during transitions — and vendors like Kyndryl and AstreaX are winning state contracts by showing prior deployment experience.
Source: Wyoming Department of Transportation
Kansas DOT Opens $2M Innovation Grant Program for Fall 2025
Kansas DOT is now accepting applications for its fall 2025 Innovative Technology Program, offering up to $1 million per project from a $2 million total pool.
The program funds governmental and non-governmental organizations tackling safety, mobility, and transportation technology gaps. Kansas DOT defines "innovative technology" broadly — any technology not currently available in the applicant's local community — giving localities flexibility to identify their own priorities. Project concepts are due November 17, with formal applications due November 19.
Eligible projects span the full transportation spectrum: roadways, rail, aviation, drones, bike/pedestrian infrastructure, public transit, software, and technology infrastructure. Projects must deliver transportation benefits and cannot qualify for other Kansas DOT funding programs. That last requirement keeps the program focused on genuinely underserved innovation gaps rather than duplicating existing funding channels.
Kansas isn't alone in pushing state-level innovation grants. North Carolina's DOT recently awarded $1 million through its Advanced Air Mobility planning grant program. Pennsylvania released its fourth annual Focus on Innovations report in May. Ohio and Indiana ran a joint automated truck platooning pilot on I-70 earlier this year. State DOTs across the country are actively building grant infrastructure to accelerate technology adoption at the local level.
Why it matters: Software vendors and technology firms targeting DOT markets have a direct, funded pathway into Kansas communities — and this grant structure mirrors a growing national pattern that agencies in other states are likely to replicate.
Source: AASHTO Journal
DOT Plans Three New Rules to Strip Human-Driver Requirements From Autonomous Vehicle Safety Standards
The U.S. Department of Transportation announced plans to propose three new federal rules in spring 2026 that would remove human-driver assumptions from vehicle safety standards, clearing a long-standing regulatory barrier for autonomous vehicle deployment.
Current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards were written decades ago with a human behind the wheel — requiring gear shifts, windshield wipers, manual defrost controls, and specific lighting equipment. DOT confirmed it will target those mandates directly, proposing changes that allow vehicles with automated driving systems to skip controls that simply have no function without a human operator present.
Transportation officials framed the move as catching federal regulation up to the technology, not abandoning safety. The administration's position is that applying human-driver rules to driverless systems creates unnecessary design constraints without delivering safety benefits. Automotive industry trade groups backed the announcement, noting the changes could accelerate robotaxi programs and fully driverless commercial deployments.
For state DOTs and transit agencies evaluating automated vehicle pilots, these federal rule changes will directly shape what vehicles manufacturers can legally deploy on public roads — and how quickly vendors can bring compliant AV products to market.
Source: Department of Transportation (via CBT News)
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