The funding will allow the city to purchase four new electric buses to facilitate new shuttle services; install nine new electric charging stations, including two fast-charging stations for the buses; purchase 20 electric vehicles for a city-wide carsharing program; and offer subsidized subscriptions for electric-assist bikes.
"We are thrilled to receive this grant from the California Air Resources Board to fund the Clean Mobility Nexus project in El Monte," City Manager Alma Martinez said in a statement announcing the award. "The grant will go a long way towards providing our community with a range of sustainable transportation options that will not only help reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also improve air quality, which is a top priority for us."
The grant was a collaboration with nonprofits Active San Gabriel Valley and Mobility Development Operations, aiming to increase transportation equity in low-income, disadvantaged communities by offering an array of clean transportation options.
El Monte — which is bisected by the 10 freeway and bounded by the 605 to the east in the middle of the San Gabriel Valley — experiences a disproportionate amount of environmental pollution from various sources, according to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.
The California Environmental Protection Agency's CalEnviroScreen map analyzes data from 21 indicators of environmental, public health and socioeconomic conditions throughout the state's census tracts to assess communities' pollution burdens and vulnerabilities.
Every census tract in El Monte scored at or above the 80 percentile for the highest pollution burden, with most of the city scoring above the 90th percentile, including some that were among the highest in the state.
The city plans to conduct community engagement activities to build awareness around the Clean Mobility Nexus Project, emphasizing the importance of reducing carbon emissions to improve air quality.
©2024 San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
