Alexis Biddle, a graduate student at the University of Oregon, has been named a 2016 Eno Fellow and will participate in the Eno Future Leaders Development Conference this June.

“I am most looking forward to broadening my vision of transportation policy. The people that I meet in the five days of the Leadership Development Conference will shape my perspective for my lifetime… I expect to return to Oregon with a reformed sense of my role in transportation policy and politics,” Biddle said.

He is currently pursuing a joint degree between the Community & Regional Planning program and the Law School at UO. He has worked on NITC research projects under the guidance of UO professor Rebecca Lewis, co-organized the student-run Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, and s active in the local transportation advocacy organization Better Eugene Springfield Transit (BEST).

The goal of the Eno Leadership Development Conference is to cultivate the next generation of leaders in all modes of transportation. Eno fellows present their own research to a panel of transportation professionals, and also meet with top government officials, leaders of businesses and nonprofits, and members of Congress and their staff.

At the conference, Biddle is looking forward to discussing what he sees as the looming issues for transportation policy. 

“How do we transform our transportation system to become sustainable? What are the federal policy mechanisms we need to ensure that cities develop a multi-modal perspective that addresses energy, livability, and the environment? How can we fund a sustainable transportation system? I specifically want to bring up the wide variety of policy mechanisms that Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) taxation could allow. Oregon’s Road Usage Charge is a great talking point to start from,” Biddle said.

The Eno fellowship is an extraordinary opportunity for transportation students. Only one student from each university transportation program can be nominated by their school, and of those nominated, only 20 fellows nationwide are chosen each year.  This is the UO’s 5th Eno awardee in the last decade, remarkable for a university that does not have a dedicated transportation program.

Biddle will be attending the conference June 5–June 9, 2016.