Transportation Decarbonization, Mobility Justice, and Magic Wands: A Conversation with Andrew Wishnia
Welcome to Cityfi’s newest Partner — Andrew Wishnia! Andrew joins Cityfi from the Biden-Harris Administration where he led climate policy in the U.S. Department of Transportation. He was a pivotal architect of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and played a critical role in crafting provisions for, and then deploying, the transformative investments provided by that generational investment. Andrew will help advance Cityfi’s practice in climate, resilience, permitting, and the decarbonization of transportation.
Karina sat down with Andrew to talk about his passion for decarbonization, his vision for the NEXT transportation authorization (no rest for the weary!), and his special super power wish.
Karina: Andrew, we are so happy to have you here at Cityfi! You have done so much and were so central to what the Administration has accomplished so far. I would love to ask, what are you most proud of in terms of your contributions to that?
Andrew: I really haven’t had time to reflect on it yet. I would start by saying it was so special to just be part of a team that transformed the country, and is in the process of transforming the world. Being part of a team where everyone’s rowing in the same direction and making such a big impact is amazing.
The investments we’ve made in active transportation, transit and rail, electrification, natural infrastructure for resilience and to reduce the effects of climate change — those improvements are going to be specifically transformative for how we make our country and our infrastructure more resilient and adaptive, and ultimately how we improve people’s day to day lives. We have an extraordinary opportunity to reduce emissions. But now comes the hard work.
That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about being at Cityfi. The way in which both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act efforts are structured rely on folks taking advantage of those eligibilities and opportunities. It has to be deliberate. There is not an automatic way to get to net zero by 2050 or a 50 percent reduction by 2030. Being able to work with the private sector, with local, State, and other governments — that is the second and necessary step to actualize the promise of both these flagship pieces of climate legislation.
Karina: You were such a thought leader within the national government. What do you hope to be able to do on this side of the table to keep advancing those causes?
Andrew: My sense is that a lot of times we overcomplicate things and this answer might not be so complicated. Folks need capacity. This is an extraordinary opportunity, but also an extraordinary challenge. You know, a $1.2 trillion investment in our nation’s infrastructure can’t be minimized, it’s an extraordinary accomplishment, but in actuality and in practice, if you are a small locality, or even a medium or large-sized city, it is difficult to navigate and understand all of the opportunities that are available. I think first and foremost, being able to simplify and provide navigational counsel to public and private entities is critical. I think that we can help to springboard these opportunities to the highest and best use.
Karina: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is an amazing accomplishment. It took the work of hundreds of people to draft that legislation, and thousands more to advocate for it and get it approved. It’s a five year piece of legislation that we’re already nearly two years into. I hate to ask, but what comes next?
Andrew: I think you’re exactly right to ask the question. I know to many folks that seems crazy given all the time, effort, bandwidth, and sacrifice those thousands of people put into passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It’s a fact of the way the Hill works that you don’t respond until the crisis is upon you, and for a bill of that size and duration folks tend not to look at the next infrastructure bill until the current one is close to expiration. For us to look more strategically, we ought to begin that conversation sooner than later.
To your question, what comes next? I think we really ought to do a deep dive into the problem statements and provide directionality to our transportation program. We need a north star for the 2030’s and beyond. My sense is we haven’t had that really since MAP-21 in 2012. That bill of course codified a new performance management regime which included national goals and target setting for things like safety and asset condition. Now that we have that management approach in place, in 2023 we ought to provide the country a clear direction as to what it is that we’re aspiring to accomplish for transportation mobility, including how to make our systems as efficient, equitable, and healthy as possible. So we do actually need to start that conversation now about what the vision and values associated with the next transportation reauthorization ought to be. And we probably need to think more holistically than we have in the past to meet our shared aspirations.
Karina: Absolutely. Transportation is inextricably intertwined with equity and the ability to change one’s social and economic standing. It’s inextricably tied to the environment and resiliency. It is fundamental to economic development: jobs, production and the movement of goods and ideas. Now that you’re with Cityfi, how do you see yourself getting engaged in some of these other areas of focus that Cityfi works on: resiliency, digital systems, planning, and economic strategy?
Andrew: You’re exactly right. Transportation is a means to an end. It’s one of the reasons why I got into transportation. If you love public policy, really any facet of public policy, there is no greater impact that you can make than in the field of transportation, particularly today. And just to take your examples one step further. You know, our national security depends in part on the choices we make in transportation policy, including what sorts of fuels and choices we are providing for the American people. You could go on and on as to the convergence of transportation with most every federal agency — and by extension, city and State agency — whether it’s the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Labor, the Department of Agriculture, certainly the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency — if we want to bring products to market, if we want to strategically deploy charging infrastructure that is convenient, accessible, reliable, and equitable, and if we want to reduce pollution, we’re going to need to relate it all back to our transportation system.
That’s one of the exciting parts of Cityfi. It is an opportunity to look at the convergence of energy, the environment, planning, and so on. Citiyfi is leading that effort to de-silo transportation. And this notion stretches to the entirety of the private sector, where we need not only a “whole of government” approach, an approach the Biden-Harris Administration has very effectively deployed at the federal level — but a “whole of nation” approach to decarbonizing our transportation system, which is where we can help. Doing that is going to require energy and transportation professionals to work together, for instance. And I am equally excited to look at climate resilience, wildlife, natural infrastructure, and approaches to conservation, and all these other areas where I think some transportation professionals once thought were sandboxes untethered to their line of work, when in fact they are integral to the way we ought to move people and goods moving forward.
Karina: Cityfi is unique in that we work with and advise cities, states, nonprofits, private companies, and philanthropies of various scales. We have a clear set of values that we subscribe to and we want to do good in the world. What do you think you can offer to these various clients?
Andrew: I think having been a part of the conception of a lot of provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, having been a negotiator, and having been at the table of so many of these conversations, one of the things I hope to provide to folks is an understanding of why the provisions were put into effect and and what folks should be prioritizing and leveraging when it comes to their bottom line in the private sector, and how to maximize both public interests and bottom lines. On the public side, having the background of each of these provisions and a sense of the interagency pressure points — both on the Hill and in the Administration — I can help to provide navigational counsel to connect the dots for cities and states and clients more broadly.
Karina: You have accomplished a lot and you have been really influential on a number of different levels. I know you were sought after by a number of different entities as you were leaving the Administration. Why Cityfi? What attracted you to us, other than of course, our undeniable charm and good looks?
Andrew: Hahaha. Well, where I am in my career, I wanted to go where I can have the greatest impact. I just want to be a part of great teams and help make and implement great policy that improves people’s lives. I have spent a lot of time at work over the course of the last several years because of the moment we’re in. And I think about how much time I spend away from my family, and it occurs to me going forward that I want to have a sphere of influence that is important and critical and part of the national conversation, and I also want to have balance so I can be with family. I wanted a “Both/And”. And that’s what Cityfi offers. I can help both the public side and the private side, and be there for my wife and kids. Cityfi is also so unique to have 50/50 public sector and private sector clients, and it’s exciting and unique to be able to work across matrices. In some ironic way, it’s very similar to government in that you (we) work across so many different verticals. And to your earlier question, that creates a multiplier effect across so many different enterprises. So that’s something that was very important to me coming out of the Administration.
The other reason, as you know, is the talent Cityfi has attracted. It’s extraordinary to have as nimble of a firm but also the quality and capacity that Cityfi has in-house. The reputation that Cityfi has built up is unparalleled, and that was another critical point that I considered in my journey. I am so excited to be able to learn from the team and to grow here.
Karina: So, last question. You have two young kids, as you’ve mentioned, and you have committed your career to really making the world a better place. If you could have one superpower or one wish to make a lasting change, what might you do with that?
Andrew: One wish? This is the worst genie!
I would love to be able to be in two places at once. I know we had one shot over this past ten years or so to do something really transformative, and we accomplished that. But it is a fact that the most important things that you can do are inside the four corners of your house. So yeah, if I had a superpower, it would be to be in two places at once, but I also just need to continue to grow, and I love Cityfi’s emphasis on work-life balance. That’s sort of as close to a superpower as I can get!
Karina: I think that that’s right. We describe Cityfi as having these three foundational characteristics: that we’re nimble — we try to move swiftly and adapt quickly to what’s happening. We’re gutsy in that we will tell the truth — not just what clients want to hear, but what they need to hear. And we’re humanist. To us, that means we are grounded in the lives of real people, starting at home. Because what are we doing all of this for?
Andrew, I had the pleasure to work with you just briefly in the Administration. You know, you were just such an inspiration there, and you are an inspiration here. You are kind and amazing and we deeply appreciate you. We are just really eager to share you and everything that you bring to an even wider audience. We are excited to help you, and us all, advance this really, really important mission to decarbonize transportation to set our country, and frankly the world, up for sustainable success. And, we are really happy to have you here!
