EVLN(Ford Think City newest addition to San Francisco City's fleet)

[Bruce EVangel Parmenter <brucedp@yahoo.com>]

EVLN(Ford Think City newest addition to San Francisco City's fleet)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV informational
 purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
 --- {EVangel}
[Editor's notes: Why does the piece start out poo-poo'ing the 
 'City EV' as a cartoon toy, demeaning it, turning the public off
 to it, and setting the prejudice against from the get-go.]

Electric car may join San Francisco's growing fleet of alternative
vehicles By Victoria Colliver OF THE EXAMINER STAFF July 30, 2000
2000 San Francisco Examiner

URL:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/examiner/hotnews/stories/30/Balternativessun.dtl&type=business

The cartoonishly cute electric Ford Think City may become the newest
addition to the City of San Francisco's growing fleet of alternative
vehicles.

The mini two-seater, which arrived last week for testing, may soon be
carting city employees to meetings or between departments.

Sure, it has its limitations -- it takes a lot of juice to make it up
those hills. But when gas prices are high, the thought of a
gasoline-free, zero-polluting car becomes especially attractive.

"San Francisco has been one of the most aggressive cities on
zero-emission vehicles, and that's encouraging," said Jason Mark,
transportation co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientists, a
national environmental group. "You get air quality benefits, and you
also reduce the fuel bill."

San Francisco has been at the forefront of clean-air programs, with
efforts dating back more than a decade. But last year, the Board of
Supervisors passed an ordinance that accelerated The City's conversion
to environmentally friendly vehicles.

The ordinance, introduced by Supervisor Tom Ammiano, requires The City
to buy low-emission vehicles, develop alternative fuel stations and
install charging bays for electric cars in city-owned garages.
Exceptions were made for Muni and some emergency vehicles, although
Muni was asked to make conversions when feasible.
[...]
The money for alternative fuel vehicles comes from a variety of
sources, including city funds, state money from car registration
surcharges administered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management
District and from U.S. Department of Energy grants.
[...]
For electric cars, a recharging station at the Civic Center Garage has
existed for about a year.  The City plans to install recharging
stations at all city garages. Thirteen are expected to be completed by
September.
[...]
Indeed, other cities are looking to San Francisco as a model.

Seattle, for example, is considered to be progressive and
environmentally aware, its fleet administrator, Dave Kerrigan,
described San Francisco as light years ahead of Seattle in its move to
mandate that city departments buy low-emission vehicles when they have
to replace old ones.

"That's a pretty aggressive program," said Kerrigan, adding that his
program in Seattle, where pollution is far less of problem than the
Bay Area, is voluntary. "I was really impressed San Francisco had
taken those kind of steps."

Jason Mark, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, praised San
Francisco's efforts but said The City could do more.

According to Mark, the biggest offender is Muni.

"We've been spending a lot of time over the past three years trying to
convince Muni to make a cleaner choice. They've been extremely
reticent," he said. "It's almost appalling, especially in a city such
as San Francisco, to have some of the dirtiest buses in the state."
[...]
Muni spokeswoman Maggie Lynch said Muni didn't start to replace its
fleet until last year after it had budget increases to fund new
buses.

"We haven't been dragging our feet," she said. [...]
"Much like our microclimate, we have microclimate driving conditions.
You have Lombard Street, and you have narrrow streets," Lynch said.
"We have to make sure what we purchase is going to work."

Lynch said moving to alternative fuel creates a number of additional
expenses, including new fueling equipment and the need to retrain
mechanics.

"Switching to alternative fuel is not something we are ruling out, but
we have to gauge the economic impact of that," she said. "It's a
larger undertaking than just buying a different bus."
 ...
 http://www.sfgate.com/    chronletters@sfgate.com
SFGate Editorial Director, George Shirk  gshirk@sfgate.com
Copyright 1998, The San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner. All rights
reserved.Fax# 415-512-8196, SF Editor: William German, 901 Mission
St.,SF,CA 94103, Tel# 415-777-1111  Vmenu tree,use #4 for City desk
 ---

Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter  BruceDP@iname.com
         ____        % Use Renewable Energy to charge your EV %
      __/o|__\~        EVangel: messenger bringing good news
=)---'@ -----@'      'Electric cruis'n the Santa Clara Valley'
132V S-10 Blazer EV          http://eaaev.org/brucedp  

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