The Role of Research in Addressing Climate in Transportation Infrastructure

Opening Statement By Chairman David Wu

Good morning. I want to welcome everyone to this morning’s hearing.

This is the third in a series of hearings that the Subcommittee has convened on the impact of our transportation system on the environment. The first addressed regulatory barriers to the utilization of green technologies that mitigate surface water runoff from our roadways and parking areas. As a result, the Subcommittee reported H.R. 5161, the Green Transportation Infrastructure Research and Development Act, in the 110th Congress to address this issue.

Our second hearing explored the R&D agenda required to improve energy efficiency and lessen the environmental impact of the pavements used in our transportation infrastructure.

The focus of today’s hearing is to examine the R&D that is required to help mitigate the impact of our transportation infrastructure on the climate.

Efforts to limit the climate impact of cars and trucks stretch back to 1973, when we began to phase out lead-based additives to gasoline, although a total ban on these additives did not take effect until 1996. In 1976, the use of catalytic converters was mandated to reduce the toxic emissions of cars. And in 2007, Congress adjusted CAFÉ standards for the first time in more than 30 years.

Those changes were the low-hanging fruit that helped us begin minimizing the impact of our transportation system on the atmosphere. Even now, climate change mitigation efforts largely focus on improving our current fuel sources and developing alternative fuels.

Today there is an opportunity to think more broadly about the impact of our transportation infrastructure on the climate and what research is needed to begin minimizing our impact in more far reaching ways.

We need to think about improving the energy efficiency of our transportation system, not just the cars and trucks on it. For example, what are the modeling tools that would help communities develop an effective mixed-use transportation system of cars, buses, light rail, trolleys, and bikes like we have in Portland, Oregon? If we are serious about congestion mitigation and traffic management, what’s required to realize these goals?
I want to thank our witnesses for appearing before the Subcommittee and for assisting the Subcommittee in formulating the R&D needs that should be included in a surface transportation R&D authorization bill.
 

Witnesses

Panel

0 - Mr. Steven Winkelman
Director of Transportation and Adaptation Programs Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP)
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0 - Mr. Mike Acott
President National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA)
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0 - Mr. David Matsuda
Acting Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation
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0 - Ms. Catherine Ciarlo
Transportation Director Office of Mayor Sam Adams Office of Mayor Sam Adams
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0 - Dr. Laurence R. Rilett
Keith W. Klaasmeyer Chair in Engineering and Technology, and Director Nebraska Transportation Center Chair in Engineering and Technology, and Director Nebraska
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