San Francisco, CA — The Board of Supervisors today voted unanimously to approve legislation to expand the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in San Francisco parking facilities. Mayor London N. Breed and Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced the legislation on July 16, 2019. Supervisors Rafael Mandelman, Ahsha Safaí, Vallie Brown, and Hillary Ronen are co-sponsors. The legislation requires commercial parking lots and garages with more than 100 parking spaces to install EV charging stations in at least 10 percent of the parking spaces and is the first requirement of its kind in the nation.

The City has a goal of achieving 100 percent emission-free ground transportation by 2040. Increasing access to EV charging is part of the City’s strategy to reduce transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions, which account for 46 percent of the City’s overall emissions. Seventy-one percent of the City’s transportation emissions come from private cars and trucks. In addition to increasing charging stations on privately owned land, the City has invited EV charging station providers to submit proposals to deploy EV charging stations at up to 38 municipal parking facilities that are accessible to the public. The City is in the process of evaluating the proposals received from interested EV charging providers.

“In order to meet our climate goals and improve the air we breathe, we need to reduce our dependence on private vehicles and get people onto transit, bikes, and sidewalks,” said Mayor Breed. “However, we know there will still be some people who will continue to have their own car, and for those people we want to make it as convenient as possible for them to transition to an electric vehicle. Even as the Trump administration threatens to revoke California’s emissions waiver under the Clean Air Act, we continue to do our part to reduce emissions and clean our air.”

Parking facility owners would be required to install the EV charging stations by January 1, 2023 and will be encouraged to work with EV charging providers to do so. The ordinance will apply to approximately 300 commercial parking facilities throughout the City. Mayor Breed’s approach to electrifying transportation is designed to work in concert with San Francisco’s longstanding Transit First policy. The City recognizes that the best way to reduce congestion and emissions from the transportation sector is to get people out of cars, and onto public transit, bikes or sidewalks.

“The path to an emissions-free future is by electrifying our private sector cars and trucks,” said Debbie Raphael, Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment. “By making charging more readily accessible, we will promote even greater EV adoption, which will reduce emissions, improve air quality, lower asthma rates, and create a more livable city for all.”

In July, Mayor Breed also unveiled an EV Roadmap that sets a goal of 100 percent emission-free ground transportation by 2040. The Roadmap lays out a plan for the City to reduce the financial and information barriers that are preventing people from adopting EV technologies. The Roadmap offers solutions and actions the City can take to electrify private sector transportation, decrease total vehicle miles traveled, reduce gasoline- and diesel-powered cars on the road, and increase adoption of zero emission vehicles.

San Francisco has successfully reduced its greenhouse gas emissions 36 percent below 1990 levels and has a goal of being a net zero emissions city by 2050. The City in 2017 passed legislation requiring all parking spaces in new construction and major renovation projects be “EV-ready,” and is currently transitioning its municipal passenger sedan fleet to be 100 percent zero-emissions by 2022. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has a goal to reach an all-electric fleet by 2035 and is implementing bus “green zones” to reduce emissions in neighborhoods with high concentrations of low-income households and people of color.

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