Executive summary
- This report outlines staff recommendations for implementation of the Climate Emergency Parking Program, based on analysis and engagement.
- If approved, the program will accelerate the shift to electric vehicles in Vancouver and fund in part the significant investment required to implement the City’s climate emergency actions and fulfill the goals set out in the Climate Emergency Action Plan.
- The program consists of a pollution charge of up to $1,000 to be added to parking permit fees for more polluting vehicles 2023 or newer, as well as a $45 overnight parking permit for residential streets in the City that are currently unregulated, which would be reduced to $5 for people with low incomes.
- An analysis of the feasibility and implications of removing the City’s regulatory minimum parking requirements for new developments will be brought back to Council at a later date.
Climate implications
- The CEAP strives to reduce carbon pollution from transportation, buildings and waste by 1,382 kilotonnes below 2006 levels.
- Although the program is limited to on-street parking, modelling suggests that it shifts the uptake of electric vehicles from 10% of new purchases to 17% in 2023, and further in future years.
- This accounts for existing federal and provincial policy to support electric vehicles. This shift in behaviour is estimated to achieve 7 to 14% of the 233 kt of carbon pollution reductions that the Climate Emergency Action Plan targets from the switch to electric vehicle and renewable fuels.
- In 2030, that would be between 17 to 33 kilotonnes less carbon pollution emitted from the cars and trucks on our roads. This is a scale of reduction on par with, or larger than other major City initiatives.
- It is equivalent to:
- 2 – 4x the amount of emissions reductions as the Zero Emissions Vancouver Building Bylaw requirements for low-rise new homes;
- 1 – 3x the amount of emissions reductions as the Vancouver Landfill RNG project;
- 3 – 6x the reductions from transitioning Vancouver’s film sector off of diesel generators; or,
- Similar emissions reductions as the Creative Energy switch from natural gas to electric boilers.
- Note that these forecasts depend on factors such as how frequently people purchase new vehicles, their willingness to choose an EV when they purchase a new vehicle, and their ability and choice to park off-street.