Dan Zukowski

Journalist, feature writer, essayist.

Transportation Reporter, Smart Cities Dive

Smart Cities Dive • July 26, 2023

Autonomous vehicle regulation focus of House subcommittee hearing

Industry groups favor the proposed bipartisan legislation, but safety advocates are fiercely opposed to provisions they say put road users at risk.

Smart Cities Dive • July 18, 2023

Cities turn to cameras to cut traffic deaths

Automated speed and red-light cameras are filling in for reduced traffic enforcement despite privacy and racial equity concerns.

Smart Cities Dive • July 11, 2023

In the ‘brave new world’ of urban air mobility, who will benefit?

Developers of air taxis — electrically-powered aircraft that can take off and land vertically, or eVTOL — are moving quickly toward commercial operations, which could come as soon as 2025.

Smart Cities Dive • May 10, 2023

Should Massachusetts build high-speed rail across the state?

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey wants to establish new intercity rail passenger service along an existing rail line from Boston to Worcester, Springfield and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, but Rep. Seth Moulton, who represents the Northeastern part of the state, has another idea: Build a new high-speed rail line from the ground up.

Smart Cities Dive • May 9, 2023

Connected vehicle technology advances in US with FCC waiver approval

Automakers Audi, Ford and Jaguar Land Rover North America, nine equipment suppliers and the Virginia and Utah state transportation departments can use previously-reserved spectrum for connected vehicle applications, according to an April 24 decision from the Federal Communications Commission.

Smart Cities Dive • May 1, 2023

Flying taxis are coming. Cities will need dozens of vertiports.

By 2030, electric vertical and takeoff landing (eVTOL) and other passenger-carrying advanced air mobility aircraft could offer many more flights per day than the largest airlines, according to a McKinsey & Company analysis.

I am the transportation reporter for Smart Cities Dive, where I cover trends and developments in public transportation, zero-emission and autonomous vehicles, urban air mobility, passenger rail and related federal and congressional actions.

Previously, I served as a feature writer and correspondent for Trains magazine, and my byline has appeared in CityLab, Grist, Salon, Sierra magazine, Hakai, Mongabay, Pacific Standard, and elsewhere. My writing career began as a business journalist for the WardsAuto group of automotive industry publications, reporting on manufacturers and suppliers, along with consumer, marketing and government issues.

Between stints in journalism, I've led the national public relations accounts at major agencies for Kawasaki, Honda and Toyota, counseling CEOs and upper management.

I am a member of the Lexington Group for Transportation History, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA), American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE), and Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE).