"Before you can charge a car, you have to charge up the community."  
- Reverend Lennox Yearwood Jr.

The 2022 Forth Roadmap Conference’s return to an in-person event was a huge success with nearly 1100 attendees representing 11 countries with racial equity front and center in the programming and diversity across industry sector representation. 

The official conference  program kicked off with remarks from U.S. Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, who stated,

“We want to see a future where [every American] can get to wherever they want to go in an EV. It’s going to require us to build a national network of charging stations, have them integrated into the grid so people can charge up where they live, work and play.” 

The Secretary was followed by a plenary discussion with leadership from the Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation on current federal support for transportation electrification growth. 

The Conference offered a plethora of challenging and timely discussions on federal charging investments, rural electrification, electric school buses and racial equity in transportation electrification. The panels held spaces for conversations between experts and newcomers alike. These discussions continue as our colleagues at Forth do the work to progress these efforts and issues.

In addition to the thought-provoking content from the panels and speakers, this year’s conference provided extensive networking opportunities for our 1000+ attendees. Through all discussions a theme to connect and accelerate persisted.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Climate Policy for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Andrew Wishnia, said 

“There's so much work ahead of us in the days, weeks and months to come. We would not be in this moment we're in without the people in this crowd.”

He was not the only one to mention the sense of urgency for everyone attending the conference. There was a hum of energy amongst the folks at the Roadmap Conference. They demanded action from each other to ensure that everyone is included at the table as we move forward. 

"We must act on the work now and include communities along the way.

The final plenary session, "Electric Vehicles, Compact Cities, or Both?" offered a lively discussion about what we need to do next. Monique Lopez, Planning Director at Pueblo Planning, left us with a crucial question -

“We have to make decisions ...we must ask - Will they harm the BIPOC, those without generational wealth and the global poor, or will they center and uplift those communities?”

From networking events each day to the after-parties and receptions that had over 200 attendees, we hope that folks were inspired and motivated to bring the action to the forefront of the ever-growing efforts for not just clean and just transportation but also cleaner air.

We are dedicated to continuing this work and it’s clear that while we have a long way to go to ensure that everyone is included in this electric road trip of advancement, there is no lack of will to get there.

The 2022 Roadmap Award Winners: 

Forth presents the annual Roadmap Awards to celebrate individuals, companies and organizations advancing electric, shared and smart transportation in the categories of Private Sector Leadership, Community Partnership, Research and Career Achievement. 

Forth and our board congratulates the 2022 recipients!

• Private Sector Leadership –  General Motors
  Awarded for being one of the first and largest legacy OEMs to commit to phasing out gas car sales by 2035 and also for their investments in charging and new mobility solutions.

• Community Partnership –  The Greenlining Institute 
  Awarded for their many tireless efforts in advancing transportation electrification in equitable ways.

• Research –  The Union of Concerned Scientists
  Awarded for their advocacy and research work, including their highly cited comparison of gas to electric car emissions have helped lay the foundation for electrification.

• Career Achievement – Representative Peter Defazio
  Awarded for his long career and tireless work to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
  
  

The 2023 Forth Roadmap Conference will be held May 16 - 17, 2023 in Portland, Oregon. The Forth team is excited to welcome attendeesback to Portland to continue this important work. If you have any questions about next year’s conference, please contact Ashley Duplanty.