Environmental Policy & Management student Tiffany

Tiffany Hoang at the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy

I was fortunate to work amongst brilliant researchers and policy analysts from the UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy. There, I focused on research aimed towards understanding the impacts from three exciting transportation revolutions - vehicle sharing, electrification, and automation (i.e. self-driving vehicles).

I co-authored "Federal, State, and Local Governance of Automated Vehicles" and "The Road to Successful Governance of Automated Vehicles" with Executive Director of the Policy Institute, Austin Brown, and Greg Rodriguez of Counsel, Best, Best & Krieger. The issue paper and accompanying policy brief were highlighted in Forbes Magazine and discuss the existing policy landscape for automated vehicles (AVs), identify key governance challenges (e.g. conflicts of authority, application of liability and insurance frameworks, safety components, privacy concerns), and provide policy options to guide local, state, and federal governance of AVs. The literature review process for this paper exposed me to AV legislation going through Congress and AV policy development and implementation led by proactive states and local governments. The iterative process of writing and revising papers with multiple collaborators and attendance to policy brainstorming meetings has made me more confident in my ability to communicate key research findings to a policy audience.

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