Item - 2023.IE1.12

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee:

1. Requested the Director, Environment and Energy, in collaboration with Transportation Services, Toronto Hydro, and the Toronto Parking Authority, to report back to the April 26, 2023 meeting of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee on options, if any, for permitting private installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure on public streets, including any necessary conditions to protect the public interest.

In order to improve air quality (and therefore public health), and to reduce climate pollution, one essential strategy is to replace fossil fuelled vehicles, whenever possible, with zero emission vehicles. Many Toronto residents wish to acquire electric vehicles, but have nowhere to charge them. In particular, many residents cannot install a personal charging device because they do not have a private driveway and presently park their vehicles on the street.

The electric vehicle chargers being rolled out by Toronto Hydro and the Toronto Parking
Authority are directed primarily at supporting visits to local businesses. There is a
disproportionately high cost to providing public EV charging in on-street parking in residential areas.

Persons who apply for a parking pad to install electric vehicle charging for their personal use are usually turned down because of the many adverse effects of front yard parking on stormwater, groundwater, sidewalk safety, public parking, etc. Constituents are therefore legitimately asking for practical alternatives that would allow them to replace a gas-fuelled vehicle with an electric vehicle.