This Energy Institute-funded research asks how state house lawmakers understand the connection between the energy transition in transportation and the state revenues available for transport infrastructure. The project is directed by Dr. Gian Claudia Sciara (School of Architecture) and Dr. Andrew Waxman (LBJ School of Public Policy).
As the transportation industry moves toward low carbon energy sources, what policies could or would state legislators adopt to ensure that states, cities, and metro regions have the resources to renew and maintain transportation infrastructure? What policies might legislators put in place to ensure that transportation funding itself incentivizes sustainable mobility? Importantly, how do legislators perceive the costs and benefits of advancing such policies, and what level of interest do lawmakers have in pursuing them?
This work aims to inform public policy by discovering the lawmakers’ knowledge of and opinions about legislative opportunities available to facilitate the energy transition in transportation and to minimize the impacts of decarbonization on transportation funding.
Students are sought with an interest in public policy, transportation policy and finance, environmental and sustainability policy, legislative behavior, survey administration, and data analysis.
This project is ongoing as of Summer 2020.
Responsibilities could include researching state-level transportation funding and energy policies, summarizing focus group proceedings, developing descriptive statistical analyses of survey data, creating graphical visualizations to present research findings, as well as many other possibilities.
