Does sharing an electric vehicle in a low-income community make sense?
A $1.6 million grant from the Air Resources Board awarded to Los Angeles might help provide an answer.
The city and community organizations are developing a pilot project that will put in place a 100-vehicle car share program serving disadvantaged communities in downtown L.A., Westlake and areas of Koreatown.
The project is believed to be the first of its kind in Los Angeles.
The grant is coming from cap-and-trade funding, and will utilize an additional $8 million to partner with a private car-share operator. The initiative was designed by the L.A. Mayor’s Office of Sustainability
The Air Resources Board also is contributing funding to a similar pilot in San Diego’s Barrio Logan and Logan Heights neighborhoods.
"This electric car-sharing pilot project offers a glimpse of the future, and represents the type of shift in policy, infrastructure and behavior that we need," said State Senate President Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, who sponsored legislation backing the investments.
A different state program is offering California residents living in disadvantaged communities a cash incentive toward the purchase of an electric vehicle or electric charging station.
