Electric cars, addiction recovery, Jacob Frey, JD Vance’s visit

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In Carol Becker’s recent op-ed (“The future is electric, that is, still mostly on four wheels,” Strib Voices, Oct. 11), the author offers too narrow a vision for reducing transportation emissions in Minneapolis . He suggests that privately owned electric vehicles (EVs) are the only strategy to pursue and goes as far as advocating “the removal of bike and bus lanes”.

As the convener of Drive Electric Minnesota, I encourage you to take a broader view. Personal EV ownership will work for many people and should be encouraged. Many lower-income residents rely on other modes (biking, walking, public transit, shared electric vehicles) to get where they need to go. Minneapolis has more multi-family housing than single-family housing, and those units are more difficult to serve with EV charging. We must work to make low-cost electric vehicle charging universally available, while remembering to include in our plans residents who cannot afford or choose not to own a car. There are other ways to benefit from an electrifying transportation system, such as using Evie Carshare or riding one of Metro Transit’s electric buses. Additionally, more e-bikes than electric cars were sold by 2022, thanks in part to Minnesota’s improved bicycle infrastructure.

The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report finds that multiple transport strategies offer “substantial potential to reduce net emissions by 2030”, including electric vehicles, public transport and bicycles and e-bikes. The US National Plan for Transportation Decarbonization states that “decarbonizing the entire transportation sector will require a diverse portfolio of solutions and technologies.” Minneapolis can ensure it serves all of its residents by pursuing a similar multifaceted approach.

Brendan Jordan, Minneapolis

The writer is vice president for transportation and fuels at the Great Plains Institute.