Advancing Equitable Vehicle Electrification in New Jersey: Place Priorities, Problematic Perceptions, and People-focused Policy

Keywords: vehicle electrification, transportation, policy, planning, risk perception
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 63

Abstract

This paper answers the question: How can state and municipal policies advance equitable vehicle electrification by engaging the perceptions that people hold of the transportation needs in their communities as well of the transportation environments in those communities? This paper brings together three literatures: the geographies of policy, theory of risk perception as applied to the transportation environment, and communicative planning frameworks which emphasize the role of planners in facilitating community engagement, but not usually in novel transportation contexts such as vehicle electrification. Utilizing data from 17 interviews conducted with government leaders, planners and transportation advocates, as well as 103 responses from a survey administered to households within 3 cities in New Jersey, we advance several theoretical points related to equity in transportation mobility outcomes. First, as vehicle electrification is promoted, theories of policies as themselves mobile may need to recognize the emplaced nature and unique needs of populations that struggle to meet their daily transportation needs. Second, movement towards new forms of mobility—but especially (shared) electric mobility—will require investments that counter a particular kind of social amplification of risk: people do not want to adopt (or utilize shared) electric vehicles due to significant knowledge gaps unless they see people they know doing so. Finally, our results advance a novel component of citizen participation in planning. We outline the importance of a communication constituency—what one of our respondents called “EVangelists”—specifically related to transportation and planning and how such a constituency might be cultivated, managed, and sustained.