The Department of Transportation is on the hunt for alternatives to GPS to better complement and support the nation’s transportation system with reliable position, navigation and timing (PNT) services.

The department’s John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center issued a request for information to identify capable vendors to participate in field tests of “very high technical readiness level” complementary PNT systems.

Specifically, the RFI seeks “technology capable of providing critical infrastructure users and operators positioning and/or timing information that is derived independently from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)…”

DOT’s Volpe Center in 2020 held field demonstrations of GPS alternatives, which resulted in a report on those systems. However, that event did not ” test the technology performance against stringent CI requirements and needs including resiliency to cybersecurity threats (e.g. jamming and spoofing of PNT signals).” It also allowed the participation of technologies of lesser maturity, according to the RFI.