Supervisor Mandelman puts board on record for publicly accessible curbside EV charging study and pilot

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman introduced a resolution at the Board’s March 19 meeting supporting an initiative to develop San Francisco’s first publicly accessible electric vehicle curbside charging program. The measure places the board on record in support of a city-led assessment and subsequent pilot program.

Mandelman said transportation accounts for nearly half of the city’s emissions and that making EV ownership and use easier is part of an emissions-reduction strategy. He said the initiative is being worked on by the Department of the Environment and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). According to Mandelman, the departments are conducting a citywide assessment to evaluate installation, operation and maintenance of curbside charging infrastructure, study neighborhood and site-level conditions, identify permitting or regulatory barriers, and gather stakeholder input.

The resolution as described by Mandelman would ask departments, based on that assessment, to develop a framework for an EV curbside charging pilot that identifies project costs and implementation parameters; he said the departments expect to present the plan later in the year and that a pilot is hoped to begin “no later than next year.” Mandelman said the city currently has just over 1,000 publicly accessible chargers and estimated the city needs about 5,000 to meet its goals.

Why it matters: the measure aims to accelerate public EV charging infrastructure in a dense, transit-rich city where many residents lack private off-street parking. Departmental assessments and a pilot program could inform permitting changes, capital requirements and equitable siting strategies.

Next steps: the resolution was introduced; departments are expected to complete the assessment and return with a pilot framework and cost estimates.