BERKELEY—The city of Berkeley passed The Electric Mobility Roadmap at a City Council meeting on July 21, 2020. The roadmap’s goal is to build a fossil-fuel-free transportation system and see the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the next five to ten years. The purpose of the roadmap is to encourage citizens to walk, bike, or use public transportation systems as substitutes for using fossil-powered vehicles. Moreover, the road map will motivate people to use electric vehicles through the city.
According to Jesse Arreguín, Berkeley Mayor, although the population in Berkeley has been increasing from 2000, the city of Berkeley has reduced 26% of carbon emissions since then. Only the greenhouse gas emissions of the transportation sector in Berkeley have increased between 2000 and 2016. Katie Van Dyke, city climate action program manager, explained at the City Council meeting that 59% of Berkley’s greenhouse gas emissions are caused by transportation, so it is necessary to accelerate zero net emissions from private vehicles.
To accomplish the roadmap, the city of Berkeley is trying to team up with community organizations to deal with structural inequities in access to transportation and increase discounted public transit systems that reach under served communities. The road map report says, “Historically, transportation investments and decisions have unjustly burdened low-income communities and communities of color with air pollution and other negative impacts, while simultaneously failing to meet their transportation needs.”
Arreguín’s plan is to make an eco-friendly city, where people can bike and walk safely. The city will work together with other stakeholders to complete the Electric Mobility Roadmap project and establish an environmentally friendly city.
