Electric Mobility Strategy

On September 23, 2021 the City held a workshop with members of industry, public-sector, academia, and community organizations to solicit input on the eMobility Strategy’s draft actions and their approach to implementation. During this workshop, participants shared their perspectives on the timing, equity, safety, and collaboration considerations that need to be taken into account during the eMobility Strategy’s implementation. These thoughts and perspectives were collected via Mural Board, a collaborative online whiteboard tool.

Click here to see the Mural Board that was created and what we heard during this workshop. It is noted that the thoughts and perspectives that were expressed may not be fully representative of the general population and the existing interests of participants in electric mobility.

Moving forward, our next steps will be to integrate workshop and survey feedback into the draft eMobility Strategy document and begin the finalization process.

The purpose of eMobility Actions Survey was to better understand community priorities in relation to the actions the City can take to best support electric transportation in the community. The survey asked questions about priorities related to micro-mobility and electric vehicles, as well as personal preferences related to charging. In total, 139 community members completed the survey, and the high-level results are summarized below.

Priorities on e-bikes and micro-mobility:

Respondent’s indicated that the City’s first priority should be to build secure public e-bike and micro-mobility parking at strategic locations. Launching a shared e-bike pilot project was also considered to be a high priority item.

Priorities on EV charging and use:

We heard that the City’s primary priorities should be to build public EV fast-charging hubs and install Level 2 curbside EV chargers in the City’s neighbourhoods.

Priorities on EV charging locations:

To better understand where the City should be installing EV charging infrastructure, respondents were asked where the next best charging locations would be. We heard that the most preferred location would be in a neighbourhood, public parking lot, or curbside. This was followed by workplace charging as the next most preferential location.

General thoughts and perspectives:

Respondents were also given an opportunity to provide additional thoughts on the draft actions. Overall, there was a general theme that the City should prioritize building EV charging infrastructure and developing policies as ways to reduce EV adoption barriers, rather than creating or supplementing financial incentives. In addition to infrastructure needs, we also heard that a clear understanding of the rules and regulations of micromobility use is needed to ensure the safety of both eMobility users and non-users.

Click here to access the full survey report, including submitted open-text responses.

This survey was available at beheardnewwest.ca from August 27th to September 19th, 2021. It is noted that the sample may not be fully representative of the general population given the existing interests of participants in electric mobility.

On July 15, 2021 the City held a workshop with members of industry, public-sector, academia, and community organizations to solicit input into the eMobility Strategy and collect feedback on the work completed to date. During this workshop, participants shared their perspectives on possible actions the City can take to support different modes of electric transportation in the community. Overall, there was a strong level of support for many of the actions that have been proposed, and we also received great feedback on what was potentially missing. These thoughts and perspectives were collected via Mural Board, a collaborative online whiteboard tool.

Click here to see the Mural Board that was created and what we heard during this workshop. It is noted that the thoughts and perspectives that were expressed may not be fully representative of the general population and the existing interests of participants in electric mobility.

Moving forward, our next steps will be to refine and prioritize the proposed actions based on further analysis and what has been heard to date. You can still help in the development of the eMobility Strategy. The City is inviting residents to complete a new survey to provide their feedback on the proposed actions the City can take to best support electric transportation in the community. This survey will remain available until September 19, 2021.

Electric mobility consists of any transportation mode that is fully or partially propelled by electricity and can be refueled by plugging into an external source of electricity.

Electric mobility modes include:

• Electric Vehicles (EVs) – EVs are vehicles that are 100% powered by a battery that is plugged in to recharge. Some EVs are plug-in hybrids, which are powered by both an electric and internal combustion engine.

• Electric Bikes (E-Bikes) – E-bikes typically have two or three wheels, a seat, pedals, and an electric motor that cannot power the bike faster than 32 km/hr.

• Other Micro-mobility – A wide range of electric micro-mobility (or “little vehicle”) options are now available. These modes include scooters, mopeds, single-wheels, weather-protected cargo bikes, and more.

• Electric Trucks and Buses – A wide range of electric vehicles used for goods movements or passenger transportation are emerging. These include electric delivery trucks, pick-up trucks, vans, buses, heavy duty tractor trailers, and other medium and heavy duty vehicles.

All these forms of electric mobility have the benefit of being zero-emissions (except in the case of plug-in hybrids), meaning they produce no tailpipe emissions. They also have low life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions when charged on BC’s low GHG electrical grid.

Electric transportation modes typically have low operating costs, and their initial costs are declining. For these reasons, electric mobility has an important role to play in contributing to a cleaner, healthier, zero emissions future.

Several of the City's Seven Bold Steps are directly related to transportation electrification:

• Carbon Free Corporation – The City's corporate operations will strive to achieve net zero emissions by 2030, including its fleet.

• Car Light Community – Accelerate the Master Transportation Plan target for mode split, ensuring 60% of all trips within the City will be by sustainable modes (walk, bike, transit, etc.) by 2030.

• Pollution Free Vehicles – By 2030, 50% of kilometers driven by New Westminster registered vehicle owners will be by zero emissions vehicles.

• Carbon Free Energy – The City of New Westminster will invest in a smart electrical grid to support the required rapid conversion to building and vehicle electrification.

• Quality People-Centred Public Realm – A minimum of 10% of today’s street space that currently only serves motor vehicles, excluding transit, will be reallocated for sustainable transportation or public gathering by 2030. The natural environment will be integrated with the public realm.

Overall, 91% of participants reported it was important for the City to support the transition towards electric mobility.

Respondents’ perspectives on EVs:

• 36% of survey respondents currently own and use EVs, and 70% of those who do not currently own an EV plan to purchase or are strongly considering one as their next vehicle.
• When asked about the present challenges of owning an EV, many respondents indicated the high purchase cost of EVs (45%) and the limited access to at home charging (56%) as the key barriers.
• The majority of respondents cited access to “at home” (71%), public (62%), and workplace (43%) charging as being “very important” considerations to enabling the adoption of EVs within the community.

Respondents’ perspectives on e-bikes and micro-mobility:

• 22% of respondents currently own or regularly use an e-bike or other type of electric micro-mobility (e.g., scooter, moped, single-wheel, etc.). 45% are strongly considering buying or would like to buy an E-bike as their next bicycle, and 26% are either strongly considering or planning to buy another form of micro-mobility in the future.
• Nearly half of respondents noted that barriers to E-bike adoption include limited access to safe/secure parking locations of E-bikes (47%), high purchasing costs (46%), and lack of safe biking routes (43%).
• Almost 80% of respondents indicated safe biking routes and secure bike parking as being very important to encouraging E-bike adoption, while only 27% viewed convenient access to charging stations as being very important.

Click here to access the full survey report, including submitted open-text responses.

This survey was available at beheardnewwest.ca between October 30th to November 29th, 2020. It is noted that the sample may not be fully representative of the general population given the existing interests of participants in electric mobility.