Developing these solutions requires innovation and fundamental change — from the way we commute to the movement of goods to the establishment of our communities. It also requires new partnerships between states, municipalities, transit agencies and utilities. Implementing these changes can make our transportation systems greener, more sustainable and more equitable. There are three key goals to achieve for advancing this vital transition.

Accelerate adoption of greener vehicles and cleaner fuel
Electric vehicles have already started making an impact on our transportation system. By 2030, electric cars will make up about 28 percent of new car sales, a significant increase compared to the expected 2.7 percent sales increase for 2020. And even now, according to Electric Vehicles Outlook, this small increase is displacing 1 million barrels of daily oil demand.

After recognizing the impact of GHG emissions, states, cities’ utilities and transit agencies are converting conventional public vehicle fleets to electrified vehicles — a move that accelerates electrified vehicle adoption and advances state and local economies as well as social equity goals.

Implementing infrastructure that supports these vehicles creates jobs. A study conducted by the Political Economy Research Institute estimates that school and transit bus fleet electrification could create 280,000 jobs over the next five years. Reducing GHG emissions would improve cities’ air quality, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, which are often home to fleet vehicle terminals. A recent Ontario Public Health Association study showed that electrifying fleets has a social benefit of US$1.1 billion annually and can save up to 143 lives per year.

Policy changes also advance electric vehicle adoption. For example, in June, the California Air Resources Board mandated that all buses purchased in the state after 2030 should be electric and beginning in 2024, trucks must be zero emission. The Board has a goal to have all trucks zero be emission by 2045. All municipal buses in the state are expected to be electric by 2040 with more policy changes to follow that encourage the adoption of clean vehicles across the state. These mandates are being provided economic support. Congress’ proposed INVEST bill significantly increases grants to transit agencies that move to low or no emissions vehicles and provides billions to support transportation agencies aiming to reduce their carbon emissions.

Develop partnerships for electrification
Decarbonization requires strategies such as electrification and connecting mobility options. Oftentimes, success hinges on partnerships between groups that have not traditionally worked together and incentivizing shared risks and rewards that drive innovation. Collaborations between utilities, cities, public and private fleet owners, and landowners ensure we incorporate key issues like public health, access to mobility services, jobs and equity in infrastructure decisions.

Strategize and plan for the future of clean energy infrastructure
A cohesive, infrastructure development strategy is essential to enable clean energy use in our transportation networks. These strategies must extend beyond borders and include utilities that provide the energy for vehicles, making electric vehicles more attainable and cost effective. The objective is to put infrastructure in place that supports a range of clean energy solutions including microgrids, vehicle to grid, renewable power generation as well as charging facilities and smart infrastructure for electric vehicles.

A more resilient, sustainable transportation network requires a multi-level approach. With a robust ecosystem of clean energy solutions, partners including public transportation and transit agencies, utilities and private investors will be able to capitalize on a technology that promises improved efficiency and operations. By establishing a multi-faceted network, communities will benefit for years to come.

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Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic reshapes our society, a modern infrastructure program – intelligent, efficient and connected – can transform systems to address current and future natural and man-made stresses and shocks. Done right, this investment could lead to a more resilient and sustainable system, with equitable economic recovery for all.

Coordinated planning, employing digital innovation on a regional or statewide scale, will create higher-performing infrastructure while meeting financial and operating realities. Take our electric grid as an example. Developed more than 130 years ago as a one-way system to meet increasing demand for power, the grid worked well for us for many years. But it has not kept pace with current needs. The electric grid we need now must be distributed, with networked, intelligent and advanced controls to meet our decarbonization goals while improving reliability and eliminating redundancy.

An economic recovery plan that accelerates grid modernization will build community and economic resilience while also serving environmental and social goals. This policy and investment are particularly relevant to regions where power systems are at risk, such as California, where cities and towns face days-long outages due to natural disasters and with significant impacts to critical services for vulnerable residents.

One such opportunity is the recent California Resilience Challenge. Spearheaded by the Bay Area Council, multiple applications were received from communities seeking to increase resilience to drought, floods, heatwaves and wildfires. Many of these entries were smart and creative, but too localized in scope to garner enough momentum to deliver the change they sought.

Defining current system conditions and developing a roadmap forward will enable us to think bigger and bundle these smart ideas into scalable solutions. Incorporating technologies to track conditions, and creating frameworks to measure success, will ensure that infrastructure systems are resilient now and into the future. ArchTam has developed similar metrics for the San Francisco Public Utility Commission’s water system improvement program and for Chicago’s Bronzeville Community Microgrid. In each case, in addition to financial and environmental factors, the model includes defined social benefits in the decision-making process. To speed up infrastructure investment on a local level, it’s imperative to create frameworks that can be scaled regionally and gain community support.

These new behaviors and perspectives on infrastructure modernization will serve our communities on many levels, including providing resilience, advancing sustainability and improving social and environmental equity. Now is the time to invest in bold, cohesive infrastructure modernization initiatives to sustain economic advancement for our communities – now and into the future.

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Our generation must come to grips with the fact that the California dream is threatened by a historic affordability crisis. Aging and inadequate infrastructure cannot support the current population, and economic development is insufficient to accommodate projected growth or address our growing environmental challenges. All these issues are occurring during a long overdue social revolution and a historic global pandemic. Yet, there is reason for hope.

California’s economy is the envy of many, in part because we have one of the most diverse and culturally rich populations in the world. Despite the lack of national leadership on climate and infrastructure, and inner-California in-fighting on housing issues, much of our state and municipal leadership is at the center of international and national environmental and equity discussions. In our short-term response to the coronavirus pandemic, Californians have worked across the political, economic and social spectrum to keep California relatively safe. We need to channel this collaborative spirit to assess the next stages of recovery and challenge ourselves to look forward to a better normal, where the California dream is available to everyone for generations to come.

The Next Generation of Transportation

California’s identity must change from the iconic image as the birthplace of crowded highways to a reimagined icon of mobility — one aligned with our state’s 2017 Executive Order to be carbon neutral by 2045[ii] and one of cities and communities of pedestrians and cyclists making local trips, while efficient, safe and carbon-free mass transit connects us across regions and the state. We must replace the iconic and prevalent gas stations of the 20^th century with a statewide charging and electric transportation network that is not only accessible, but also a right of all Californians. The 2017 Executive Order set a goal that by 2030, we must have 5 million[iii] zero emissions vehicles, but of the approximately 15 million registered vehicles in California today, only 100,000 are zero emissions vehicles.[iv]

Transit-oriented Housing

For generations, California living has been typified by bungalows and single-family houses in suburban neighborhoods defining the symbolic sunny California lifestyle replete with citrus trees in everyone’s backyards. This vision was not open to all and its sprawling reality is not sustainable. We need a new vision of communities with townhouses and apartments surrounding neighborhood parks, which are affordable to our workforce and are supported by transit — creating places where people can live, work and play within a 20-minute walk or transit ride. This would dramatically enhance the efficiency of our land-use. California has a housing shortfall of 3.5 million units and 41.6% of its residents are rent-burdened.[v]

Creating Quality Jobs

For several generations, we have been proud to see the “Designed in California” labels while ignoring the true environmental and social cost of offshoring manufacturing. Today’s advanced manufacturing can bring back jobs without polluting our air and water tables if we invest in and advocate for an advanced manufacturing renaissance and sustainable agricultural industry here in California. We must invest in all Californians through education and job training and provide a pathway to quality jobs to eliminate working poverty. This will require significant investment in not only workforce training, but also modern energy, water and transport infrastructure[vi] to underpin the growth in California.

Mitigating Climate Change

California’s valleys, mountains and shorelines are threatened by climate change in the form of flooding and wildfires. Adaptation has been studied and strategies developed, but many are waiting to be implemented due to a lack of funding, fragmented governance and permitting challenges[vii]. It was estimated that in 2019, there was $25 billion of damage caused by fire alone[viii]. Real estate worth $100 billion, countless habitats and 25 million residents are still vulnerable to sea level rise and flooding[ix].

We need the social, economic and political resolve to invest in implementing these strategies and as quickly as possible. We need to pivot from investing in recovery to investing in adaptation and resilience that allows Californians to thrive together. Only then can we be closer to turning the myth of a resilient California dream into a reality that is available to all the world’s most ambitious, adventurous and innovative.

[i] https://www.kcet.org/shows/departures/california-calafia-khalif-the-origin-of-the-name-california

[ii]https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-california-achieve-a-ldquo-carbon-neutral-rdquo-economy/

[iii] https://www.insideenergyandenvironment.com/2018/09/governor-jerry-brown-signs-sb-100-and-executive-order-to-achieve-carbon-neutrality-by-2045/

[iv] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicles_in_California

[v] https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-california-housing-crisis/

[vi] https://www.labor.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/CA-FOW-Working-Draft-frame-and-architecture-for-recommendations-Mar-12.pdf

[vii] https://cal-adapt.org/blog/posts/maps-projected-change-01142020/

[viii] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-28/california-fire-damages-already-at-25-4-billion-and-counting

[ix] https://sealevelrise.org/states/california/

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