Risking America’s Transportation Future

With my fellowship coming to its conclusion, it seems fitting that as I’m reflecting on my time as a fellow and the future of transportation in this country, the nation finds itself recovering from an unprecedented ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline. The attack, which halted the pipeline’s operations and severely disrupted the distribution of gasoline in the Southeast, is a reminder that much of today’s transportation system still relies on a complex supply chain that has real vulnerabilities. Those vulnerabilities are waiting to be exploited by bad actors who wish to make money or bring harm to our country. While much of the country’s transportation infrastructure is privately owned, the public bears the brunt when problems arise, which means it is up to all road users to hold industry accountable when its actions, or inactions, present too much risk. Our nation’s transportation future is not guaranteed, and unless we take the necessary steps to prepare, Americans may never step into the future of transportation. 

As a fellow, I’m no stranger to intractable societal challenges that seem to have no solution in sight. I am painfully aware that our country (dare I say globe) is drowning in gasoline, making it difficult for consumers to mentally (practically and financially) make the switch to electricity as their primary transportation fuel. My experiences in government and industry have made me fuel source agnostic, minus climate emissions considerations, so I view all fuels as means to an end destination, literally. That’s why I can say the political and environmental costs of gasoline are too high for the American people. Now more than ever, America’s addiction to gasoline is leading us to a transportation future I fear we do not want, but gasoline holds us back because we rarely see it, so we forget about it until it’s expensive or we are convinced we won’t have it when we need it. Then, to our own detriment, we care. We must break the cycle of blind, willful ignorance. Our transportation future is too important to continue drowning in gasoline. 

Looking ahead to a future where we could see more technology and more complexity added to supply chains, recent events underscore the need for transportation policy professionals to place a greater emphasis on ensuring energy resources are secure, stable, and sustainable to ensure that people and communities will have the power they need during times when they need it most. Just as panic buying and hoarding gasoline can cause supply challenges, prolonged blackouts, as we saw earlier this year in Texas during a harsh winter storm, can also create transportation challenges in an all-electric future. Policymakers and emergency management officials will need to focus on robust scenario planning to identify new approaches and strategies for when disasters strike, and the public depends on officials to stabilize situations after they worst occurs.  

If the future of transportation will be all-electric, meaning that electricity will be the dominant fuel choice, then we need to plan and prepare for situations that require emergency use of batteries that could be swapped out. But if we think gas is difficult to distribute, heavy batteries for electric vehicles might not be any easier for distribution especially during an emergency. However, some car batteries could be used to power a home during an emergency, and the public and safety officials need the ability to improvise and problem-solve with solutions like that to save lives during emergencies. Our country’s transportation future depends on it.