City’s vehicle fleet to go green by ’22

San Francisco has until the end of 2022 to drive its existing fleet of gas-fired motor vehicles into the ground before it replaces the majority of those cars with new zero-emission versions.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an ordinance by Supervisors Katy Tang and Mark Farrell that would require San Francisco to buy about 400 zero-emission vehicles at a cost of up to $22 million, which includes all the infrastructure needed to charge them. The city would cycle through about 150 automobiles per year during the 51⁄2-year period — a significant increase from the 100 cars and trucks that are replaced during a normal year.

The ordinance, which still requires final approval by the board, hit resistance early. Supervisor Aaron Peskin initially raised questions about whether it met the city’s environmental goals, noting the deadline would force the city to sell many of its vehicles before the end of their useful life.

“I absolutely embrace the fundamental thrust of this ordinance,” Peskin said. “But where we part company is my belief that it is not environmentally sound policy to sell off our existing cars to buy new ones.”

Tang quashed those concerns by adding several amendments, including a requirement for city departments to prioritize selling older vehicles.

The law makes exceptions for cars parked outside of city-owned lots, allowing them to be plug-in hybrids rather than zero-emission vehicles, which require expensive chargers. Tang’s ordinance required that at least 75 percent of the automobiles in the city’s lots be zero emission by the 2022 deadline. The other 25 percent can be plug-in hybrids.

Supervisor Hillary Ronen praised the ordinance as a big turning point for a congested but environmentally conscious city.

“In the Portola district, we’re surrounded by freeways on all sides,” she said. “Getting vehicles that are impacting air quality off the street is a big deal.”

The supervisors also amended a proposal to open a temporary Navigation Center at 1515 S. Van Ness Ave., which will get a second-reading vote next week. The city has yet to sign an agreement to borrow the site from developer Lennar Multifamily Communities.