Webinar: Bridging Transportation and Energy Through Regional Coordination
Feb. 28, 2023
The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation hosted a webinar with metropolitan regional planning organizations and partners coordinating sustainable transportation deployment. The webinar explored the experiences that regional planning organizations have had thus far bridging the transportation and energy sectors, including the challenges and successes they have faced along the way.
Audience members left the webinar with a better understanding of the resources regional planning organizations have at their disposal to ensure charging and fueling infrastructure investments are well-coordinated at a regional level.
The webinar included:
A case study on regional approach utilized in Chattanooga, Tennessee, with participants:
- Melissa Taylor, City of Chattanooga
- Mina Sartipi, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
- Rich Davies, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
A facilitated discussion with all participants, including:
- James Corless, chief executive officer for the Sacramento Area Council of Governments
- Brandi Whetstone, sustainability officer at the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.
Key takeaways
- As regions plan for the future, it is critical to be open and objective about the planning process and collaborate with a diverse set of stakeholders.
- The team in Chattanooga decided to form a consortium to bring together leaders from the public and private sector to accelerate the deployment and development of new intelligent mobility technologies.
- It is important to inform planning processes with real-time traffic and grid data to determine charging station locations, pricing, and forecasted demand.
- One of the challenges—and an opportunity— is to try to take the typical process surrounding transportation, land use, and housing planning and consider how a clean, zero-emission future for mobility fits into that existing process, avoiding siloed approaches.
- The goal is to ensure a high quality of life with focus on sustainability, equity, and inclusivity in planning processes, uplifting the region and our communities as a result.
- Regional planning organizations, including metropolitan planning organizations and regional councils, can be helpful partners in thinking strategically to identify the desired level of charging in the necessary locations.