Letter: EV Charging Infrastructure

Garrett Hennigan - DC Bill B25-0106 hearing testimony

July 10, 2023

TESTIMONY OF THE WASHINGTON AREA BICYCLIST ASSOCIATION ON B25-0106 - "COMPREHENSIVE ELECTRIC VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE ACCESS, READINESS, AND SUSTAINABILITY AMENDMENT ACT OF 2023”

Councilmember Allen and Members of the Committee:

My name is Garrett Hennigan and I am the Organizing Manager at the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of WABA and its 6,000 members across the Washington region on the “Comprehensive Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Access, Readiness, And Sustainability Amendment Act Of 2023."

WABA supports the proposed legislation and its goals. Creating significantly more electric vehicle charging infrastructure in DC is an important part of an EV transition strategy and necessary to actually meet the region's goal of 90% of all automobiles operating under electric power by 2040.

Trips by gas powered cars and trucks are the top category of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, and they account for between 20 and 35% of greenhouse gas emissions in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Electric vehicles are a part of reducing those emissions, and car-buyers will be more willing to transition if the charging infrastructure is more widely available across the city.

However, electric cars are still cars, and simply trading in every gas-powered car for an EV is not the solution DC or the region should be aiming for. A focus on personal vehicles does not help DC achieve the MoveDC policy to achieve 75 percent non-auto commute trips by 2032. They are not as environmentally friendly as automakers would have us believe when comparing the full life-cycle of the vehicle. Also, EVs on the market are often more dangerous to vulnerable road users because they are much heavier and accelerate faster. A sustainable transportation future and a safe streets future for all necessarily involves far less driving, more taking transit, biking, and walking, and denser land use.

I would like to highlight one major concern and an opportunity for addition in the bill.

1. On-street electric vehicle chargers should not be located on streets that are planned for future transit, bicycle, or trail facilities

While we support installing more EV chargers as part of everyday projects, generally, they are not appropriate on all streets and limits are needed. Adding on-street curbside charging infrastructure is a substantial undertaking which will effectively lock in curbside car parking at that location indefinitely. In the next 10 years, DDOT plans to retrofit streets with new bus lanes and protected bike lanes, typically by repurposing street space from one use to another. Locking in curbside car parking in these corridors reduces flexibility and will impede rollout of more sustainable transportation networks

As a cautionary tale, consider that in 2008, Chicago leased its street parking meters to a private company for 75 years for an immediate infusion of cash. Since then, the Department of Transportation has faced innumerable roadblocks in building bicycle and bus facilities on streets with metered parking because it cannot be easily converted to another use without significant expense to the City1 . DC should not hastily repeat the same mistake with on-street EV chargers on every street.

We encourage the Council to set limits on where EV chargers are targeted and approved in the required Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment and Management Plan to specifically exclude streets in the Bicycle Priority Network or Bus Priority Network in the MoveDC plan.

https://chi.streetsblog.org/2021/09/01/its-time-for-chicago-to-rid-itself-of-the-parasitic-parking-meter-co ntract

2. Expand public access to power for E-bike and micromobility charging

DC is in the midst of a e-bike revolution in transportation, and uptake will increase with the likely passage of the e-bike rebate program. We recommend adding a requirement, and incentives if necessary, to expand access to electric power for charging e-bikes and other personal electric micromobility devices in commercial and residential bike parking facilities, especially as part of required bike parking at new or substantially upgraded commercial and multi-unit dwellings. A sufficient number of electric outlets should be co-located with bicycle racks for convenient charging.

Thank you for this opportunity to testify. Sincerely,
Garrett Hennigan, WABA Organizing Manager