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Evansville Climate Collaborative details $20 million EPA grant bid to expand mobility hubs, EV charging and ebike access
Summary
At its July 10 meeting, staff said the Evansville Climate Collaborative is 90% complete on a $20 million EPA Community Change grant proposal that would fund 15 mobility hubs, 4.8 miles of sidewalk, 62 public EV chargers, 16 ADA-accessible EV/hybrid vans, 100 ebikes and resident memberships.
At the July 10 Evansville Climate Collaborative board meeting, staff reported substantial progress on a proposed $20,000,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Community Change grant aimed at a comprehensive shift to low-emission transportation.
Speaker 2, the staff member presenting the application, said the proposal is about "90% done" and must be submitted by July 31. Partners named in the application include La Verne Baptist Foundation, the Evansville Metropolitan Planning Organization, the city engineer, Evansville Trust Coalition and Tri State Creation Care.
The plan outlines several concrete projects: 15 "mobility hubs" linking buses, micro-transit and bike-share; roughly 4.8 miles of sidewalk improvements; an expansion of the MET micro-transit program with purchase of 16 EV or hybrid ADA-accessible vans; solar retrofits at MET facilities including the bus terminal and maintenance complex; and 62 publicly accessible EV charging locations.
Speaker 2 also said the proposal would fund an EV project manager to oversee the program and equip a public bike-share with 100 electric bikes. If the grant is awarded, the program would provide 1,000 annual memberships for Evansville residents (valued at $60 each) that allow unlimited free 30-minute rides for a year.
Board members asked operational questions about the ebike and bike-share plans. "When you say 'current,' is that, like, a company name I should be familiar with?" Speaker 3 asked; Speaker 2 replied the plan is to upgrade the existing Evansville Trails Coalition bike-share fleet and deploy both manual and electric bikes at the mobility hubs.
Members also discussed grant timing alongside the federal/state Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) process. Speaker 5 noted the state is coordinating a CFI application and referenced an internal deadline (described in the meeting as the "20 fourth"). Speaker 2 said if the EPA community-change grant is awarded, the city might not need separate CFI funds and offered to share state application materials and a webinar recording with the board.
The staff presentation included funding and timeline details but no award decision; the application will be submitted by staff and remains subject to EPA review.
