“We’d like pressing motion to drive down automobile emissions and defend the well being of our communities,” mentioned Wu, who made chopping carbon emissions a central plank of her marketing campaign platform. “These steps will contribute to cleaner air and decrease emissions, advancing Boston’s efforts to turn out to be a Inexperienced New Deal metropolis.”
Town presently has 10 EV charging stations put in in municipal tons. In January of subsequent yr, Wu plans to put in 28 new stations in tons in Nubian Sq., Mattapan Sq., Uphams Nook, and South Boston. Fifty extra stations will come on-line in 2022. Individuals who use the charging stations pay a small price — normally only a few {dollars} — to plug in. Town can be including 4 new EVs to the the Good2Go EV car-sharing program, which launched this summer time.
And within the metropolis’s new Fleet Utilization Coverage, Wu outlined plans to evaluation the scale of its 1,200-vehicle municipal fleet (which doesn’t embrace faculty buses or public security automobiles) and transition it to zero emission automobiles. She additionally will create a evaluation committee to handle and preserve the town’s gear extra effectively.
The mayor’s workplace famous {that a} third of the town’s greenhouse fuel emissions come from automobiles, 65 p.c of that are personally owned.
The announcement comes on the heels of two different climate-centric insurance policies Wu has launched in her first few weeks in workplace: introducing fare-free service on three MBTA bus traces and divesting metropolis funds from fossil fuels. And it aligns with the targets of the Go Boston 2030 program, which goals to create extra accessible, sustainable transit choices all through the town.
“It is a super step,” mentioned Metropolis Councilor Matt O’Malley, who, as chair of the Atmosphere, Resiliency and Parks Committee, oversaw his closing listening to on Friday. O’Malley, who mentioned he and Wu typically vie for the electrical charging station in Metropolis Corridor’s government storage, mentioned he was “delighted” to see Wu take concrete steps towards widening entry to EV charging stations citywide.
“Every week doesn’t go by the place I don’t get a telephone or e-mail from a constituent saying ‘I might love to purchase an EV, however I dwell in a rental or don’t have a driveway, or I can’t have a charger in my home,’” he mentioned. “We’re seeing an enormous demand for them, and the extra we develop them, the extra they are going to be used.”
Wu’s workplace mentioned that Eversource is supporting the set up of the brand new stations via its Make Prepared program, which can cowl the price of engineering and design, allowing, and different required steps wanted to construct the infrastructure to energy the stations. The utility is masking the price of 16 stations in environmental justice communities in Boston; the town pays for the remaining.
Town has allotted $300,000 in its transportation division funds to help the enlargement of electrical automobile stations.
O’Malley mentioned that every charging station prices the town about $2,400 a yr, and that the town earns a share of the charging charges from customers. Buying EVs for the town’s fleet will probably use the identical funding sources allotted to the present fleet. Whereas which may be the next upfront price, he mentioned, the financial savings from not shopping for gasoline will offset that expense over time.
Metropolis Councilor Ed Flynn mentioned in a press release that the announcement was well-timed, as federal infrastructure {dollars} are poised to move towards extra charging stations and tax credit for EVs. And he praised Wu for taking motion “to make sure that we attain our carbon neutrality targets, and do our half to fight air pollution, local weather change, and sea stage rise.”
Casey Bowers, the assistant vp of presidency relations for the Environmental Justice League of Massachusetts, additionally hailed Wu’s announcement, saying transportation in Massachusetts is the most important supply of emissions.
“One of these rollout, whereas bold, could meet the demand,” she mentioned. “People are calling on the town to take these type of actions.”
Janelle Nanos will be reached at janelle.nanos@globe.com. Observe her on Twitter @janellenanos.