Mayor Wu Announces Steps to Expand Availability of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Boston

Mayor Michelle Wu has announced two opportunities to help increase the availability of publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. Through the release of two Requests for Proposals (RFP), the City is seeking to evaluate the market for businesses to partner with Boston to bolster the number of public, curbside charging stations equitably distributed Citywide for individuals without driveways. While the City continues to build EV charging stations in municipal parking lots, the demand for public access chargers is much greater than what can be provided from off-street publicly owned parking lot locations alone. Through the RFPs, the City will examine how the private market can supplement the City’s stock with creating accessible public charging as well as contracting with partners to install and service city-owned chargers.

“With rapidly advancing technology and subsidies from federal and state sources, electric vehicles can be affordable for families looking for a cleaner, greener alternative, but we must develop the public charging infrastructure to ensure accessibility across all our communities,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “As we work to improve multimodal transportation access across walking, biking, and public transit, we also strive to make the transition to electric vehicles possible and create jobs building the infrastructure necessary for our city.”

“We know that to eliminate climate change and environmental pollution residents, commuters and visitors cannot rely on personal vehicles, but if they need a car it should be electric,” said Green New Deal Director Oliver Sellers-Garcia. “As we implement a Green New Deal for Boston, we are looking for ways to make the inevitable EV transition work best for our city.  We’re focusing on strategies that address the needs of drivers who can’t charge at home, and we’re seeking to create a market that can bring more workers into the business of decarbonization.”

“As we continue to make changes to our streets to better serve all modes of transportation, we also want to make it more viable to choose to drive electric by supporting the expansion of charging infrastructure at the curb and in our municipal lots,” said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Chief of Streets. “These investments will create a more accessible and equitable charging network which will expand the options our residents have in how they choose to travel.” 

More information on the RFPs can be found here.

Public/Private Partnership to Deploy Electric Vehicle Charging at Curbside Locations

Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and Related Services