The Vermont House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a transportation bill that would allocate $1.5 million to help low-income residents replace older cars with clean transportation.

The bill (H.433) would create the Replace Your Ride Program to give a $3,000 incentive to Vermonters who qualify as low income and demonstrate they are removing an internal combustion car from the roads. The bill was approved unanimously in the House, where Democrats and Progressives hold a 38-12 edge over Republicans. It now moves to the Senate, where Republicans are outnumbered 23-7.

Proponents of the program, which is modeled after a program in California, believe it will help Vermont address transportation poverty, Linda McGinnis, policy analyst fellow at Energy Action Network, said during a recent Sierra Club-hosted webinar.

Participants could use the incentive to purchase a new or used EV, an all-electric bike or motorcycle or use shared mobility services.

A broad group of organizations has supported a six-person steering committee in developing the program during the last year. McGinnis co-chairs that committee.

“We want lower-income Vermonters to be able to choose the type of clean transportation option that fits their needs,” McGinnis said. “Some may want to stick with the car because they live in rural areas, while others may really be thinking about trying to go carless.”

The transportation sector accounts for 45% of Vermont’s carbon emissions. That number is growing because Vermonters travel more miles per person than residents of other Northeast states, and they “have a taste for larger vehicles,” she said. In addition, 54% of the vehicles on the road are more than nine years old.

The poorest Vermonters, McGinnis said, spend up to 25% of their income filling up their cars with gasoline.

“That’s a pretty radical figure,” she said.

The Replace Your Ride program would make it feasible for low-income residents to purchase an EV and take advantage of lower operating costs in the future.

“The average rural Vermont driver … stands to save about $1,900 a year from driving an EV,” she said.

The program is also designed to stack with other incentives. Combining the Replace Your Ride incentive with utility, state and federal programs could reduce the price of a car by up to $17,000, McGinnis said.

Additional funding will be necessary to build out the program. McGinnis said that the program would be a good fit for funds that will come from emissions allowance auctions in the Transportation Climate Initiative Program beginning in 2023. (See TCI Releases Draft Rule for Cap-and-Invest Program.)

EV Charging

The transportation bill also would authorize funding to support EV charging infrastructure development and require utilities to adopt EV charging rates.

As proposed, the state’s Agency of Transportation would create a $1 million pilot program to support installation of EV charging equipment at multiunit dwellings. The pilot would expand on work already completed with Volkswagen settlement funds.

In addition, all Vermont electric distribution utilities would be required to implement EV charging rates by June 2024. The rates, which would be subject to regulatory approval, would encourage EV use and avoid negative impacts on ratepayers who do not have EVs.