What Transportation Technology Can Learn from My Family Feud

Ok. Feud might be a little dramatic. Let me explain. I’ve always been in the business world, which led me to be a Microsoft person. My older sister is a musician and married to a musician, so naturally, they’re an Apple family. We’re both firmly planted in our tech camps because everything just works better when you stay within the same brand: computers, phones, watches, cloud space.

So, when my music-teacher mom needed to finally move into the 21^st century and get better at using a computer and get a smartphone, my sister and I engaged in a (playful) battle over which sibling got to be tech support for our mom. I lost. She’s now a Microsoft person and I’m on call. Turns out, my family’s brand feud isn’t unique, it’s the same challenges our transportation systems face, except the stakes are higher than random IT calls from your mother.

When Systems Don’t Play Nice, Everyone Loses

Agencies often find themselves navigating siloed systems that weren’t built to work together. Need to modernize traffic signal timing? You might discover your controllers only talk to one vendor’s software. Want to add AI-powered vehicle detection? Too bad, your analytics platform doesn’t support the video feed. Want to share data across agencies and applications? Not unless you pay steep integration fees or start from scratch.

These aren’t minor headaches. They’re signs of a deeper issue: a lack of interoperability that leads to vendor lock-in, technical debt, and brittle infrastructure. Every time a system is added that can’t connect to others, it becomes harder and more expensive to innovate, adapt, and scale.

Interoperability and Flexibility Matter

To break this cycle, agencies need to prioritize interoperable, flexible systems from the start. That begins with open APIs and modular architecture—so different tools can talk to each other, evolve independently, and adapt over time.

APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are like translators, enabling disparate technologies to share data and functionality. A well-documented, open API can send the same real-time updates to traffic management centers and the public, or a camera stream video into a third-party analytics tool. With APIs, agencies can choose best-in-class solutions instead of being locked into one-vendor ecosystems.

Even better is an API-first design philosophy, where integration isn’t tacked on, it’s built in from day one. API-first systems are extensible, flexible, and future-ready. They support collaboration across departments and allow new tech to plug in with ease. The best part, with API flexibility your vision and processes don’t have to change to fit the technology, you can fit the technology into your vision.

Security Can’t Be an Afterthought

As transportation systems grow more connected, the stakes around cybersecurity grow too. Every data feed, device, and integration point becomes a potential vulnerability. Real-world threats aren’t hypothetical. Cities have faced ransomware attacks that disrupted tolling, fare collection, and traffic management. The impact? Costly downtime, shaken public trust, and delayed recovery.

That’s why cybersecurity must be foundational. A future-ready system starts with a zero-trust architecture: no device, user, or service is automatically trusted. Role-based access, real-time monitoring, and strict network segmentation are essential. It also means partnering with vendors who build security into every layer — from encrypted APIs and authenticated access to compliance with frameworks like NIST and ISO 27001. As AI becomes more embedded in operations, protection from data tampering and model manipulation is critical too.

Conclusion

Technology is advancing faster than agencies can deploy it. It’s not enough to digitize infrastructure. We need systems that evolve, integrate, and protect over time. That means prioritizing interoperability to break down silos, flexibility to support new tools, and cybersecurity to safeguard it all. With the right partners and a commitment to openness and resilience, the answer can be yes. And we can all spend less time feuding with our technology and more time using it to build smarter, safer, and more connected communities.