Takeover Tracker
32%medium risk
Transportation Engineers
vs

65 shared · 22 different

core competencies

37%medium risk
Cost Estimators

Side-by-Side Comparison

MetricTransportation EngineersCost Estimators
Risk Score32.4%37.0%
Risk TierMedium RiskMedium Risk
Risk Percentile53th72th
Tasks at Risk (>50%)7 / 158 / 14
Median Salary$99,590$77,070
Employment355K220K

Skill Comparison

|

Sorted by largest difference

Design
Drafting, Laying Out, and Specifying Technical Devices, Parts, and Equipment
Transportation
Physics
Engineering and Technology
Visualization
Problem Sensitivity
Public Safety and Security
Making Decisions and Solving Problems
Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Material
Operations Analysis
Building and Construction

Protective Factors

Higher values indicate stronger protection against AI displacement

Transportation Engineers

32%

total discount

Cost Estimators

29%

total discount

Task Risk Comparison

Tasks sorted by AI automation risk — higher means more automatable

Transportation Engineers

7 of 15 at risk
86%Prepare administrative, technical, or statistical reports on traffic-operation matters, such as accidents, safety measures, or pedestrian volume or practices.
84%Estimate transportation project costs.
72%Prepare project budgets, schedules, or specifications for labor or materials.
53%Design or prepare plans for new transportation systems or parts of systems, such as airports, commuter trains, highways, streets, bridges, drainage structures, or roadway lighting.
52%Design or engineer drainage, erosion, or sedimentation control systems for transportation projects.

Cost Estimators

8 of 14 at risk
87%Prepare cost and expenditure statements and other necessary documentation at regular intervals for the duration of the project.
86%Collect historical cost data to estimate costs for current or future products.
84%Prepare estimates for use in selecting vendors or subcontractors.
66%Prepare and maintain a directory of suppliers, contractors and subcontractors.
55%Analyze blueprints and other documentation to prepare time, cost, materials, and labor estimates.

Wage Comparison

Cost Estimators earns -$22,520(-23%) vs Transportation Engineers
Transportation EngineersCost Estimators
10th
$65,920$46,330
25th
$78,790$59,830
Median
$99,590$77,070
75th
$128,290$99,630
90th
$160,990$128,640

Premium Head-to-Head Analysis

Displacement Timeline Comparison

Transportation Engineers2028–2035
Cost Estimators2028–2035
20242030203520402045

Transportation Engineers has a longer runway before significant displacement, projected 0 years later than Cost Estimators.

Risk-Adjusted Salary

Salary weighted by displacement risk: salary × (1 − risk%)

Transportation Engineers

$67,363

from $99,590

Cost Estimators

$48,593

from $77,070

After adjusting for AI risk, Transportation Engineers offers $18,770 more in risk-adjusted pay.

Transition Feasibility

1%

Skill Overlap

Low overlap — significant retraining needed for transition

0

Unique to Transportation

0

Unique to Cost

Combined Protection Strategy

Regardless of which path you choose, focus on these protective factors

Fine Manipulation
Creativity
Decision Complexity
Social Intelligence
Transportation EngineersCost Estimators
Find transitions from Transportation EngineersFind transitions from Cost Estimators