California Transportation Foundation
Each year, the California Transportation Foundation (CTF) brings together the top transportation students from across the state for the CTF Education Symposium. Students are paired with professional mentors and are split into teams to compete in a mock RFP (Request for Proposals) competition. In 2023, I was nominated by USC faculty to attend.
The 2023 RFP competition—hosted by the fictional US Department of the Environment, Sustainability, and Transportation—called for student teams to propose a transportation-related project to use $100 million in federal funds in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% by 2050 while:
- improving safety and equity;
- engaging community-based organizations and research entities; and
- determining a locally preferred alternative through (mock) stakeholder interviews.
Our Proposal
Our proposal (Code R.E.D.: Reduce Everyday Driving) called for developing a micro-grant program that would serve as seed funding for public-private partnerships in building transit-oriented development projects and subsequently reinvesting partnership proceeds into developing and sustaining micromobility transit systems. Our team won second place!