Last summer and fall, Mark Joseph and I had the opportunity to volunteer on the Biden-Harris Infrastructure Policy team, working with the best and brightest experts across infrastructure types -- transportation, technology, water, energy -- to help devise and prioritize policies to be implemented by the Administration on January 2021 and beyond. Our focus was on infrastructure policy for stimulus plans. For the past few decades, there has been a lot of talks about infrastructure, but unfortunately, investments in roads, bridges, and tunnels, not to mention new initiatives beyond state of good repair projects, have been significantly delayed. With the pandemic and shock to the economy, there’s an urgent need to address job creation, climate change, and equity, and the team started to build policies that could help make the most of the investment.
Transportation is a key feature of the $2 trillion infrastructure & climate bill with the objective of revitalizing the sector into one that is clean and equitable, leverages new technologies, and trains and employs new skills. Investments in clean transportation solve issues of climate change while helping cities move and connecting people to education and jobs—whether that means electrifying transit, fare-free buses, micromobility, or making walking and biking safer and more accessible.
Here are some exciting elements from the infrastructure plan and other policies that we can look forward to in the road ahead for transportation.
1) Decarbonize, with a high focus on the transition to EVs
We have an ambitious Climate Plan to become carbon neutral by 2050, with pieces of the pie spanning EVs, transit, buildings, power sector, agriculture, conservation, carbon capture, & much more. For transportation, contributions include:
Reversing the rollback of the Obama-era’s stringent CAFE standards and negotiate new fuel economy standards with auto OEMs. More aggressive CAFE standards should motivate OEMs to provide US consumers and fleets with a broader selection of hybrid and electric vehicles. Hello electric pickup trucks.
Transition public fleets from gasoline/diesel to electric through a program similar to Cash for Clunkers but for government vehicles. Procurement of these clean vehicles will likely have Buy America requirements.
Install 500K alternative energy charging stations to relieve the public and fleets of range-anxiety and establish more EV corridors — accelerating the adoption of EVs and hydrogen vehicles in passenger and freight.
Invest in clean energy supply chains and supply chain resilience in the US, addressing issues like reliance on rare earth minerals and foreign countries, as the extent which China has control over the battery supply chain is now much bigger than what OPEC had with oil.
It’s been a long, hard road for EVs to get to where they are today (the first successful electric car debuted around 1890 in Iowa and have gone through several rises and falls). With battery costs trending towards $100/kwh, public’s range anxiety decreasing, and now signficant federal support through charging infrastructure development and policies, we will *finally* see the start of a true transition to EVs over the next decade and an abundance of new opportunities in the EV enablement ecosystems.
2) Invest in intercity high-speed rail
New York to Chicago is 790 miles and takes 12.5 hours to drive, 2.5 hour to fly, and 19 hours by Amtrak. This Amtrak is by way of Lake Shore Limited route which leaves 3 times per week and takes an indirect route, so the actual distance traveled is around 930 miles, making the average speed on the train 50 mph--not exactly high speed.
Meanwhile, a route of similar distance is Beijing to Shanghai, which is 750 miles. You can take a high-speed train operating at 175 mph to get from one city to another in 4.5 hours. And, you can choose from 40 trains per day.
It’s no secret that America is left behind on rail; it’s also no secret that Biden is a big supporter of rail, given his nickname of “Amtrak Joe”. As part of the Build Back Better plan, Biden has promised to spark the second great rail revolution in the US. This will focus on building infrastructure for high-speed rail connecting regional metropolitan cities—stimulating economic integration, mobility of workers, and more efficient and sustainable freight between ‘sister-pair’ cities.
A new era of high-speed rail has the potential to transform domestic travel by train. For travel between regional cities, such as Chicago/New York and Los Angeles/Las Vegas, we may have a true competitive alternatives to air travel that is time-efficient, convenient, cost-effective, and gives you more leg room. The challenge, though, is that in the US there’s not really a passenger rail culture outside of the northeast corridor. What kind of experience will it take to get the ridership we’d want onto rail?
3) National framework for autonomous vehicles
To-date the federal government has no rules or regulations on autonomous vehicles, only a set of non-mandatory guidances (the Federal Autonomous Vehicle Policy), leaving the States to address licensing and registration, traffic law enforcements, conducting safety inspections, and regulating vehicle insurance and liability. Given the federal hands-off approach, 45 out of 50 U.S. states have taken it upon themselves to enact AV-related legislation -- some legislations are similar, some are conflicting.
The lack of uniformity hurts consumer receptiveness and cause legal and operational challenges for the technology and OEM players.
Biden-Harris administration may take on a more hands-on approach to AV regulation through a national framework, instead of a state-by-state. This should accelerate the development of AV tech while instilling safety standards that helps society accept the this technology.
AVs have a lofty goal of significantly reducing the 40K US and 1.4M global vehicle fatalities that happen every year. But, it is still far from mass deployment, with two key challenges being regulations and public perception. A national framework on AVs, if optimized between safety requirements and innovation, can help provide consumers the confidence needed to adopt this transformative technology.
Great read and excited that I'm a part of the EV transformation. ;)