BC Clean Transportation Action Plan Recommendations

To: cleantransport@gov.bc.ca - CC: Hon. David Eby, Premier; Hon. George Heyman, Minister of

Environment and Climate Change Strategy; Hon. Rob Fleming, Minister of Transportation and

Infrastructure; Hon. Dan Coulter, Minister of State for Infrastructure and Transit; Hon. Josie Osborne,

Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation; Hon. Bowinn Ma, Minister of Emergency

Management and Climate Readiness; Hon. Adrian Dix, Minister of Health

Re: BC Clean Transportation Action Plan Recommendations

 

We, the undersigned 75 organizations, are responding to your request for input by urging the

BC government to demonstrate its commitment to climate emergency action, human health

and wellbeing, and equity and affordability by incorporating the following recommendations in

the upcoming Clean Transportation Action Plan1

 

Context: Transportation was responsible for 42% of BC’s total greenhouse gas emissions in

2020, with the majority of those emissions from personal vehicles and trucks. Greenhouse gas

(GHG) pollution from the transportation sector in BC has been increasing in recent years, until

the covid pandemic, as shown in the graph below.2

 

The definitive IPCC Sixth Assessment Report on climate mitigation states that “transformative

changes in the transport sector. . . are needed to meet climate targets”.3

 

BC set an ambitious and precedent-setting vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) reduction target in

October 2021. Transformative change will be required to meet this target of reducing light duty

vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) “25% by 2030, compared to 2020.”4 Continued spending on

highway expansion is clearly incompatible with meeting BC’s climate targets.

 

We strongly recommend that the Clean Transportation Action Plan:

 

● Make affordable, accessible, and convenient electric public transit within and

between all communities a top priority. This must include safe and affordable public

transit to and from rural and First Nations communities, as the Union of BC Indian Chiefs

calls for.5

 

● Immediately reallocate infrastructure funds from highway expansion to public transit

and active transportation (cycling, rolling, and walking). Billions of dollars could be

reallocated from urban highway expansion projects, which make traffic worse and

increase GHG pollution, to active transportation and public transit.

 

● Prioritize funding for projects that reallocate road space from private automobiles to

transit lanes, protected bike & roll lanes, pedestrian priority spaces, and space for

trees to cool urban spaces.6 Space reallocation to trigger traffic evaporation will be

essential for meeting the ambitious CleanBC VKT reduction target.7

 

● Include funding for cycling safety education in schools and for the general public,

alongside promotion of public transit and active transportation modes. Amend the

Motor Vehicle Act and ICBC policies to better protect people walking, biking and rolling

and ensure vulnerable road users receive fair recovery benefits and income replacement

in the event of a crash.8

 

● Apply a strong equity lens and ‘nothing about us without us’ approach to all plans and

investments, including a clear focus on the needs of older seniors and people with

disabilities who do not drive. Obvious steps, such as clarifying that people using

wheelchairs and mobility scooters have the right to use all ages and abilities bike and

roll routes, must be taken without delay.9

 

● Mandate zero emissions for all new light vehicles by 2027, and all medium and heavy duty vehicles by 2030. Prioritize rebates and other financial incentives for e-bikes/trikes, mobility scooters and power wheelchairs for seniors and people with disabilities, and the electrification of public transit and other heavily-used fleet vehicles. Avoid reliance on unverified claims of GHG reductions from biofuels.10

 

 

1 CTAP Request for Input www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/government/ministries-organizations/ministries/energy-mines-petroleum-resources/ctap_request_for_input.pdf

 

2 Data source www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/climate-change/data/provincial-inventory Note that BC government statistics do not count the GHG emissions from exported fossil fuels, and some forestry related emissions are also not included.

 

3 IPCC Working Group III “Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change” (2022). Accessed August 16, 2022: 10-4 / 1674 https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg3/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_FinalDraft_FullReport.pdf

 

4 CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/climate-

change/action/cleanbc/cleanbc_roadmap_2030.pdf

 

5 Letter to Premier Horgan RE: Let’s Ride! Make Public Transit BC Wide (Nov 26, 2020)

bcwidebus.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/ubcic_publictransitbcwide.pdf

 

6 Street trees that shade sidewalks and other active transportation infrastructure are important for both climate adaptation and GHG reduction. e.g. toolkit.bc.ca/tool/planting-our-future-a-tree-toolkit-for-communities/

 

7 Eric Doherty (2022) “CleanBC Roadmap to 2030: What does this mean for planners?” Planning West - Winter2022 www.pibc.bc.ca/sites/default/files/internal_pages_pdfs/planning-west/PIBC-PW-Winter2022-CleanBC-Roadmap- PG22-24-Web.pdf; Eric Doherty (2022) “Traffic Evaporation: Why planners need to understand climate impacts of reallocating road space” Plan Canada, Vo.62(3) pp 16-19 at www.cip-icu.ca/Files/Plan-Canada/plan-canada-issues/PlanCanada_Vol-62_No...

 

8 For background on MVA reforms see HUB Cycling (Feb 7, 2023) Join the Road to Reform: Protect All Road Users bikehub.ca/about-us/news/join-the-road-to-reform-protect-all-road-users

 

9 CBC (Oct 21, 2021) “Victoria city council to consider allowing wheelchair users and mobility scooters in bike lanes” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/city-council-bike-lane-pilot-1.6...

 

10 Peter Fairley (2022) “How to rescue biofuels from a sustainable dead end” Nature Vol 611.17

www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03649-w; Eric Doherty (2021) “Bust CleanBC's biofuel scam” National Observer. www.nationalobserver.com/2021/01/05/opinion/bust-cleanbc-biofuel-scam

 

Signed,