The Road Ahead: Inside CALSTART’s ZET Ahead Dashboard
By Alissa Burger
Alissa Burger, CALSTART’s Regional Policy Director, shared behind-the-scenes insights into the newly updated ZET Ahead Dashboard and what it reveals about state policies driving the shift to zero-emission trucks.
What makes this dashboard such a valuable resource for states and policymakers?
In an era of constrained funding and increasingly complex and competing priorities, the ZET Ahead Dashboard (ZET = Zero-Emission Truck) provides state staff with a succinct playbook for initiating, growing, and sustaining an ecosystem for zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles (ZE-MHDVs). The ZET Ahead Dashboard is a one-of-a-kind interactive visualization of the progress states have made in accelerating the adoption of zero-emission vans, trucks, and buses. It’s also used by policymakers, investors, industry stakeholders, and advocates to stay informed about the most impactful state actions and investments supporting zero-emission trucking.
It may be a cliche, but you can’t manage what you can’t measure. The ZET Ahead Dashboard overcomes this obstacle by offering staff, advocates, and industry members a unique resource to easily see and quickly understand the progress states are making in this transition.
This year’s update added six new states and introduced an “Economic Development” dimension. Why was it important to include that dimension, and what does it tell us about how jobs, manufacturing, and clean transportation are coming together?
One of the most critical parts of a successful state political strategy is consciously coupling it with an economic development plan. Low-carbon, zero-emitting technologies, vehicles, and infrastructure are one of the critical growth areas for the world economy, and states with strong market and regulatory support for these technologies will be attractive sites for manufacturing, service, and support. In particular, infrastructure installation and maintenance jobs are “hyper-local” (meaning they must be done in-region) and are a powerful area for job training, incentives, and favorable policies.
In most states, the governor’s office will be a prime starting point for issues involving economic development, at minimum to make sure any activities align with the administration’s goals and will be supported. Identifying supporters and providing them with suggestions for potential legislation can also be a useful early step; engaging with champions of ideas like training future workers and providing assistance to companies investing or locating in the state can build strong bridges between the legislature and agencies. Tax credits will likely require legislative approval, and special investment or enterprise zones to encourage green businesses to relocate could as well. However, assistance to guide and recruit companies to the state can often be delivered without such approval.
How did CALSTART’s Policy team draw on its experience and partnerships to shape the ZET Ahead Dashboard?
As someone who has been involved in state-level policy for the last 15 years across a range of technologies, I have a deep respect and appreciation for the work state staff must do to overcome challenges in this industry (e.g., incorporating new technologies, changing regulatory landscapes, and executing implementation timelines), which often require cross-agency collaboration. Uniquely, CALSTART has three decades of experience working in the MHDV space, and I wanted to take those insights and create a resource that someone could sit down with for an afternoon and come away with a relative understanding of how their state could move forward. The hope is that the Dashboard makes it easier for states to learn from their peers as they work to adopt best practices in MHDV decarbonization.
The dashboard is designed to help states through every stage of this transition. For those that are just getting started, what strategies would you recommend for achieving the biggest impact early on?
The Market Dimensions are listed in order from “easiest” to “hardest” related to political capital, “hardest” meaning it might require legislation, political support, and/or significant funding. For example, any state looking to get started should start with Targets and Planning. For almost all states, setting targets is the beginning point — a target signals to state agencies and industry what a state is intending to accomplish in the medium and long term.
Planning is another “easier” action best addressed early. To most effectively set and implement the state’s targets, agency staff, as well as elected officials, must have crucial information at their fingertips; this data might include MHDV populations, segmentation and user types, and models of the energy needs of these vehicles geographically and in time. Several states — like Maine and Colorado — now have more-comprehensive ZE-MHDV roadmaps, encompassing critical information that can help private and public partners move forward. Other examples of key planning activities include ZEV infrastructure planning, utility transportation electrification plans, and fleet technical assistance and planning.
As you look toward next year, what do you think will define the next big wave of momentum for zero-emission trucks? Are there any trends or challenges you’re watching closely?
In a post-Advanced Clean Trucks Act (ACT) era, what had been a relatively straightforward way for states to accelerate the zero-emission transition is now requiring a more creative approach. And while the revocation of the waivers is undoubtedly problematic, states now have an opportunity to more deeply consider the all-of-the-above plan needed for a systemic change in the MHDV space. That is to say, there’s no longer an obvious chasm between states that adopted ACT and those that were never going to. Resources like the ZET Ahead Dashboard, Zeroing in on Zero-Emission Trucks (ZIO ZET) report, and Phasing in U.S. Infrastructure, illustrate that the zero-emission transition is not defined by partisan lines. As evidenced by the economic development happening in states like Georgia and New Jersey, it’s becoming increasingly clear every state can harness this transition.
The bottom line is that it was never going to be just ACT. To truly galvanize an industry, states must pursue a strategy that requires not just one program or one policy, but rather a suite of complimentary policies across a range of targeted areas, which the ZET Ahead Dashboard provides: Targets, Planning, Economic Development, Vehicle Incentives, Infrastructure, Innovative Policy, and Regulations.
Want to learn more? Join CALSTART, NASEO, and featured state staff for a deep dive discussion Thursday, January 15th 12 pm 1- pm EST.
About the Author:
CALSTART’s Regional Policy Director Alissa Burger
Alissa Burger joined CALSTART as Regional Policy Director in March 2022, focusing on state level policies and related initiatives that will advance the transition to Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs). As Regional Policy Director, Alissa oversees state government relations and regulatory advocacy in state legislatures, key agencies, and related governor offices outside of California. She brings to this position a strong knowledge of climate and energy policy and over a decade of experience working at the city, state, federal, and transatlantic levels. She has lead policy work with organizations such as the Electrification Coalition, the Center for Sustainable Energy, the Institute for Market Transformation, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States.