GPS is vital to Americans, but hacking it has never been easier. Protecting the civilian Global Positioning System, an invisible utility the federal government pays for, falls to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He would do well to use the results of the Transportation Department’s January report on technologies that can back up GPS and keep the country moving in a pinch.

Three separate laws, most recently the Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, assign the Transportation Department the task of providing a backup to GPS. The LoBiondo Act required the secretary to put in place a backup system by the end of 2020, but no funds were appropriated, so the department couldn’t proceed.

Although Congress hasn’t followed through with the money, the DOT’s new report lays out a road map.

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