As St. Paul’s chief resilience officer, I focus on reducing the city’s contributions to climate change to help curb the harmful economic, environmental and health impacts this change will bring. Without accelerated action, our current level of carbon emissions will contribute to calamitous outcomes on a global scale. Climate change in St. Paul and around the world is right in front of our eyes, from floods to fires, more potent storms and the oceans warming and rising.

Given that transportation is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, in St. Paul we’re pursuing a variety of routes to lessen reliance on vehicles with internal combustion engines and invest in low- and no-carbon, more efficient mobility options.

Currently, we are pursuing two key initiatives. First, making it easier for people to get around St. Paul without owning a car; second, making it easier for people to choose to use electric vehicles rather than gas-powered vehicles.

We know that once people have purchased a car – an investment that includes not only the purchase price but also additional costs such as insurance, gas and parking – they are much less likely to use transit or other alternatives because of the sunk cost. Corporations around the world are investing billions in the idea that in the future we will use fleets of autonomous vehicles rather than the current model of private ownership.

The first initiative requires that we continue to improve options for transit, biking, and walking in St. Paul, and making those options work better for more people for more types of trips. One of the keys to success is to continue to increase our development density and mix so that more of our daily needs can be met in closer proximity to where we live. The working draft of the City’s Comprehensive Plan amendments will help move us in that direction.

The second initiative, electrification, involves collaboration with multiple city departments, car-share provider HOURCAR, and Xcel Energy, to plan for conversion to battery-powered and hybrid electric vehicles. We have a vision for a system of “mobility hubs” where people in St. Paul could access electric car-share vehicles, shared e-bikes and scooters, all in proximity to good transit service. We want 90 percent of St. Paul residents to be within a 10-minute walk of a “hub” by 2025. In the near term, the City hopes to create the first 35 hubs over the next couple of years working with HOURCAR, Xcel Energy, and other partners; additional hubs will also be created in Minneapolis.

Hubs will provide charging for the electric vehicle carshare program that will be operated by HOURCAR, as well as charging for private owners of electric vehicles. Another goal of the hubs will be to provide charging infrastructure that could be accessed by renters who want to own electric vehicles but don’t have access to a garage or off-street parking space.

The cost of electric vehicles is coming down, making the life-cycle costs competitive with gasoline-powered cars, and the range that vehicles can travel on a charge is increasing. Many have projected that the purchase price of electric vehicles will be comparable to gas-powered vehicles within the next several years. There is also an emerging secondary market for electric vehicles that will make ownership more affordable for more people.

The city has also successfully garnered additional resources for our efforts. A grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies will provide a full-time staff person for the next two years to implement the mobility hubs project and related transportation initiatives. Meanwhile, a grant from the McKnight Foundation is funding a yearlong fellowship focused on planning for the future of shared mobility. The “hubs” project has received $4 million in federal transportation support through the Met Council, and Xcel has committed another $4 million to the project. HOURCAR has also secured initial resources to implement a community engagement effort that will help ensure the new shared-mobility service is designed around community needs.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is also engaged in long-term planning for the redesign of the I-94 corridor between the two downtowns, which stands to have a major impact on our community. How will we use I-94 in the year 2040? Related Articles Caryn Sullivan: ‘9 Secrets to Thriving’ arrived at the right moment in this year of adversity

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As we look to the decades ahead, I believe fewer and fewer trips will be taken in privately owned vehicles, and that more with be taken through mobility services, including transit, autonomous vehicle fleets, e-bikes, and other no/low-carbon options. Realizing this vision in our city will be critical if we are to truly address the harmful effects of climate change. The work we are engaged in today moves us closer to this goal, and helps ensure we are building a sustainable city for our children.

Russ Stark of St. Paul, a former member of the city council, works for the city as its chief resilience officer.