New Urbanist Blacksburg
by Max Rooke & Lonnie Hamilton III
Electric Vehicle Charging
Priority: Low | Cost: Moderate | Implementation: Moderate
Some 20% of Blacksburg’s carbon emissions come from transportation (Blacksburg Climate Action Plan, 2016). The primary source of these emissions are automobiles, which emit carbon dioxide as they burn fossil fuels. In many cities across the United States, automobiles are essential to everyday travel, but within the borders of the town, that is not necessarily the case. The Blacksburg Climate Action Plan found that the average vehicle mile travelled per person per day was only about 10 (Blacksburg Climate Action Plan, 2016), making other forms of travel viable. To that end, Green New Deal funding would be tailored to exactly that - promoting and building out the infrastructure for alternative, lower-emission or emission-free modes of transportation.
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However, there are a fair number of people in and around town who will need to drive regardless. Whether this be because they are disabled, live on the outskirts of town, or commute from neighboring towns and counties, not all traffic in town can be transitioned away from driving. As such, Green New Deal funds would be appropriated to ensuring that driving is as environmentally-friendly and emissions-free as possible.
Source: The Driven
Source: The Driven
The future of automobiles seems to be heading in the direction of electric vehicles. Vehicles powered by electricity do not emit greenhouse gases, which means that transitioning away from gasoline-powered vehicles would cut significantly into the 20% of town emissions originating in transportation. One way to ease this transition is to provide electric vehicle charging stations in and around town.
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Green New Deal funding will be appropriated to erecting electric vehicle charging ports at public parks and parking parking lots across town. Additionally, town code will be amended to require one electric charging port for each three gas pumps at gas stations. Together, these two measures will ensure that an electric vehicle will never have far to go to find a place to charge, addressing any concerns about charging electric vehicles away from home.
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Green New Deal funding would also be used to transition the town’s vehicle fleet and Blacksburg Transit’s bus fleet to electric vehicles. This would eliminate emissions from town work activity and all public transportation use - another significant dent in that 20% transportation emissions figure.