Electrifying the Transportation Future: 12th Annual Mineta National Transportation Finance Summit

Commonwealth Club of California Podcast

Transportation policymakers face two overlapping, once-in-a-generation opportunities: electrifying the nation’s vehicle fleet and re-establishing a stable source of federal and state revenue for transportation.

As states and the Biden administration begin a push to rapidly electrify the U.S. fleet for climate reasons, policymakers are under increasing pressure to rethink how states and the federal government fund transportation infrastructure and services. For decades, motor fuel taxes have generated the majority of state and federal funds spent on transportation, even if recently these taxes have been losing their purchasing power. However, a shift to electric vehicles will require a new transportation funding model.

The speakers will discuss the challenges and opportunities with such options as mileage fees, carbon taxes, higher vehicle registration fees, or a shift entirely away from user-generated revenue.

This program is supported by the Mineta Transportation Institute at San José State University.

SPEAKERS

Special Guest, The Honorable Pete Buttigieg

U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Karen Philbrick

Ph.D., Executive Director, Mineta Transportation Institute—Program Emcee

Opening Remarks: U.S. Senator Alex Padilla

U.S. Senator (D-CA); Former California Secretary of State

Keynote: Toks Omishakin

Director, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)

Event Moderator: Therese McMillan

Executive Director, Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)

Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Ph.D.

Director, MTI National Transportation Finance Center

Carl Guardino

Executive Vice President, Government Affairs and Policy, Bloom Energy

Carlos Braceras, P.E.

Executive Director, Utah Department of Transportation

Dan Sperling, Ph.D.

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California Davis

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on June 11th, 2021 by the Commonwealth Club of California.

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