Portland-based nonprofit announces it will bring electric car sharing program to Hood River in 2020.
Photo courtesy of Forth Mobility
Dac Collins. Sept. 5, 2019. On Tuesday, Aug. 20, Forth Mobility announced that it will receive federal funding to start a pilot project in Hood River. The Clean Rural Shared Electric Mobility Project — also known as CRuSE — will provide an electric car sharing service to residents, visitors and businesses in town.
Round trip plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) car share programs have already taken root in major cities along the West Coast. Successful companies like ZipCar, as well as newly launched programs such as BlueLA in Los Angeles and Gig Car Share in Sacramento, are proving that the concept works well in urban settings, where increased traffic and carbon emissions are becoming serious problems — especially when viewed within the larger context of climate change.
But will the concept work in rural areas and small towns like Hood River?
According to a press release that was issued on Aug. 20: “Forth hopes this project will demonstrate the feasibility of carsharing in rural areas while also providing cleaner and more efficient mobility options to Hood River and its visitors.”
The town’s small size, as well as its reliance on agriculture and tourism, make Hood River an ideal site for this type of pilot project, says the Portland-based nonprofit organization.
Forth plans to commit to a three-year demonstration program, and they anticipate that the program will start sometime next Spring.
CRuSE will feature five Honda Clarity’s stationed throughout town. American Honda is donating the EV’s, and local utility Pacific Power will partner with OpConnect to install charging stations. Envoy Technologies will provide the car sharing platform, allowing drivers to reserve, access and pay for the use of EV’s with their smartphone.
Envoy will also provide a Spanish translation of its app, which will include tiered pricing structures, enabling different prices to be charged to different user groups.
Other supporting partners include Hood River Columbia Area Transit, the Port of Hood River, Ride Connection and the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District.
“I am thrilled to partner with the Hood River community to shape this project and provide learnings that can be applied in rural communities across the country,” says Kelly Yearick, Forth’s Program Manager on the project.
What a great idea it would be to include The Dalles in this venture. The amount of cars and trucks commuting every day between the two areas could surely make this a viable option .