Austin Marie Sipiora
Biography
Austin Sipiora is a Research Associate with the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR). Her research primarily focuses on policy, planning, and evaluation of alternative fuels. She has served as co-PI for research projects funded by federal agencies (including the U.S. Department of Energy and National Renewable Energy Laboratory) and state agencies (Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Office of Energy). She has worked on a variety of planning and policy-related research in the area of alternative transportation fuels and advanced propulsion technologies. She also serves as co-coordinator for the Tampa Bay Clean Cities Coalition (TBCCC). TBCCC is a designated coalition under the U.S. Department of Energy-sponsored Clean Cities program, which works to advance the nation’s economic, environmental, and energy security by supporting local actions to reduce petroleum use in transportation. She works directly with community stakeholders to facilitate petroleum reduction projects and manages communications, events, outreach, and marketing activities for the coalition.
Specialties:
Policy analysis
Alternative fuels
Sustainable transportation
Energy-efficient mobility
Transportation electrification
Advanced propulsion technologies
Transit planning
Transportation resiliency
Survey data collection and analysis
Public engagement
Outreach and education
Grant management
Representative Experience:
- Synthesis of micromobility policies, permits, and practices
- Performing stakeholder engagement and data support for fuel resilience
- Analysis of using alternative transportation fuels to improve resiliency
- Identification of procedures and protocols to facilitate emergency communication with alternative fuel stations and fleets for emergency response
- Development of standards for procuring and maintaining battery electric buses and charging systems
- Evaluation of clean vehicle policies and programs for airport private ground transportation operators
- Market penetration analysis of alternative fuel and autonomous vehicles for the state transportation department
- Identification of best practices of specialized transportation competitive grant program administration
- Assessment of federal program utilization and development of strategies to optimize mobility services for disadvantaged transportation groups
- Analysis for a university transit 10-year operational and strategic development plan
- Organization of alternative fuel vehicle first responder safety training
Education:
M.U.R.P., Urban and Regional Planning, University of South Florida, 2021
M.A., Global Sustainability, University of South Florida, 2015
B.A., English, University of South Florida, 2012