Abstract

The US Department of Transportation (USDOT) delivers a wide range of infrastructure projects, backed by a fiscal year 2023 budget exceeding $100 billion. These projects face mounting pressures to meet performance, accountability, and delivery standards, driven by their dependence on public funding and their operational complexity. Transportation infrastructure presents sector-specific challenges - such as time-sensitive user disruptions, multiparty coordination, and asset intersection risks - that demand more robust, automated, and transparent project delivery mechanisms. Blockchain-enabled smart contracts have emerged as a promising solution to address these operational pain points through real-time automation, immutable data records, and decentralized transaction processing. However, the practical realities of the transportation sector - its fragmented systems, regulatory layers, and diverse stakeholder interfaces - create unique integration challenges that remain underexamined. To address this, this study investigates how smart contracts can be effectively integrated into transportation infrastructure by identifying the context-specific needs, requirements, capabilities, and challenges that govern their adoption. A three-phase research design was employed. First, a literature review was conducted to extract generalized integration factors for smart contract use in the broader construction domain. Secondly, these factors were evaluated and ranked by qualified transportation experts to reflect their relevance in sector-specific contexts. Thirdly, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze expert survey responses and isolate the most influential integration drivers. The results indicate that, unlike general construction projects, the top integration priorities in transportation include (1) compliance checking for quality management (needs); (2) integration with existing cloud repositories or enterprise platforms (requirements); (3) the ability to maintain immutable records (capabilities); and (4) uncertainty regarding usability (challenges). These findings provide a targeted knowledge base for practitioners and policymakers, outlining the critical considerations required for effective and sector-sensitive implementation of smart contracts in transportation infrastructure.

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

1943-7862; 0733-9364

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2025 American Society of Civil Engineers, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Dec 2025

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