Transportation resilience in an electrifying world
Ryan Cornell, Instructor, Senior Global Futures Scientist ASU School of Sustainability
Our necessary move toward electrifying automobiles could result in a bifurcated transportation future: one America full of resilient communities filled with electric vehicles (EVs) and well-developed charging infrastructure, and another America full of aging gasoline-powered cars, nascent charging infrastructure, and dilapidated gas stations.
Background
What would you do if gasoline prices jumped to $10 a gallon? Could you get to work if your car stopped working?
Minor disruptions in transportation can range from mere annoyances to significant emergencies. Dependable transportation isn’t guaranteed. Given the climate impact and the shift towards electrification, understanding and bolstering our system’s resilience is crucial. This project focuses on assessing current challenges while charting a resilient path for the future.
Research questions
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How inequitable is transportation resilience in Arizona?
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How will electrification impact transportation resilience and the potential inequities in transportation resilience?
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What can we do to make our “electrified transportation future” more resilient and equitable?
Methods and findings
“Transportation resilience” is a function of a variety of factors, including, but not limited to: income, walkability, and distance to mass transit. A “Resilience Index” based on these factors allows us to approximate the regions that are least resilient (and in need of potential interventions).
Electrifying the transportation sector has the potential to increase resilience, yet it may also increase disparities in resilience (without appropriate policy intervention).
There are currently extreme disparities in electric vehicle penetration and charging availability.
Ryan Cornell
Instructor, Senior Global Futures Scientist
ASU School of Sustainability
Academic Fellow, 2023
Ryan Cornell is an Instructor and Senior Global Futures Scientist at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability. His past research, speaking, and writing has focused on sustainable transportation, quantifying automotive externalities, and electrifying the transportation sector.