In many cities around the world, the most significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and air pollutants is transportation. In order to tackle air pollution and climate change, 12 mayors from the cities of Vancouver, Seattle, London, Paris, Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Quito, Mexico City, Milan, Auckland & Cape Town signed the C40 Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration on 23 October 2017, which commits them to a series of actions to support a “future where walking, cycling and shared transport are how the majority of citizens move around” these cities.
C40 is a network of the world’s megacities committed to addressing climate change. The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group connects more than 90 of the world’s greatest cities, representing over 650 million people and one quarter of the global economy. One third of GHG emissions from C40 cities come from transport and traffic is the biggest source of air pollution, globally responsible for up to one quarter of particulate matter in the air. By signing the C40 Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration, the mayors pledged to (1) procure only zero-emission buses from 2025, and (2) ensure that a major area of their city is zero emission by 2030.
To meet this commitment, the mayors will:
- Transform their cities through people-friendly planning policies.
- Increase the rates of walking, cycling and the use of public and shared transport that is accessible to all citizens.
- Reduce the number of polluting vehicles on their streets and transition away from vehicles powered by fossil fuels.
- Lead by example by procuring zero emission vehicles for our city fleets as quickly as possible.
- Collaborate with suppliers, fleet operators and businesses to accelerate the shift to zero emissions vehicles and reduce vehicle miles in our cities.
- Publicly report every two years on the progress the cities are making towards these goals.
Each signatory city has set out concrete actions in Green and Healthy Streets: Fossil-Fuel-Free Streets Declaration – Planned Actions to Deliver Commitments. The City of Vancouver has set out the following actions to achieve its commitments under the Declaration:
- Building upon near-term electric bus pilots, the City will work with the regional transit authority to transition to zero-emission bus procurement.
- The City will build upon existing bus/ taxi-only and pedestrian only zones in the city centre to create zero emissions zones.
- Viaduct structures east of the city centre will be removed by 2019 and replaced with a complete street network to reconnect downtown with historic communities to the east and south in a new inclusive waterfront district. One of the guiding principles of this transformative project is enhanced pedestrian and cyclist movement, increasing safety and comfort for people who walk, bike, and take transit.
- Continue investments in walking and cycling infrastructure, including Vancouver’s bike-share program, which has installed over 115 stations and 1,200 bikes since launching in 2016. Continue improving accessibility of existing cycling infrastructure to lower barriers for riders of all ages and abilities. As of 2016, Vancouver residents made half of their trips by walking, cycling, and transit. 10% of residents cycled to work and nearly a quarter walked to work.
- There are over 250 public and private electric-vehicle charging stations throughout Vancouver. We will build a holistic charging network and catalyse private-vehicle transition to electric vehicles, by expanding home, workplace, and public electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Over the next five years, Vancouver will deploy an additional 20- 25 fast-charging stations, 40 Level 2 stations, and enable charging at home through curbside charging pilots and removing barriers to charger installation in multi-unit residential buildings.
- Continue low and zero-emission vehicle procurement, fleet right-sizing, and route-planning/dispatching upgrades for City-owned fleet. Vancouver currently maintains one of the largest zero-emission municipal fleets in Canada, with 33 electric and 59 hybrid vehicles. We have an overall fleet GHG reduction target of 30% from 2007 levels by 2020, and a procurement target of 115 electric vehicles, 112 hybrids, 60 compressed natural gas vehicles and continued use of B20 bio-diesel.
- Create a green enterprise industrial zone to foster co-location, circular economy, and fleet sharing amongst businesses. Work with business community to promote and support fleet transition to zero emission vehicles and smart routing to reduce distances driven. Vancouver’s Green and Digital Demonstration Program uses City infrastructure as demonstration platforms for pre-commercial clean-tech, including low-/zero-emission transportation.
The City annually commits 100% of the carbon tax it pays in its corporate operations to fund carbon mitigation and sustainability programs.