Access to clean transportation is about more than making options available. People also need opportunities to learn how they work, ask questions, and decide what fits their lives.
This has been a focus of the Clean Mobility Project since it launched for residents of two BC Indigenous Housing Society buildings in Vancouver. Over the past nine months, the CMP team has spent time getting to know residents through informal drop-ins, community gatherings, transit support, and everyday conversations.
On August 29, those relationships came together at Ride & Drive Day.
About 50 residents, family members, neighbours and passersby joined over the course of the event, with some staying for the full four hours, talking with community partners, testing their clean mobility knowledge through trivia, and learning more about the transportation options available to them.
Modo, Zero Emissions Innovation Centre (ZEIC), and Kambo’s Empower Me program hosted booths in the courtyard, giving residents a chance to speak directly with organizations working in clean transportation and energy. Modo introduced residents to car sharing in Metro Vancouver beyond the project’s shared EV and helped several sign up for personal memberships; attendees were introduced to Exploring Transit Barriers: Fares & Enforcement, a local grassroots project seeking community input; and Empower Me Energy Mentors shared practical energy-saving information and answered residents’ questions.
Residents could also get into an EV for a test drive or ride-along and share their transportation priorities through a dotmocracy activity. Their feedback will help inform the project as it continues through the end of 2026.
“Seeing so many people curious, asking questions, and engaging in clean mobility conversations and with our community partners is exactly what we hoped for!” said Project Lead Annabelle Liao.
The Clean Mobility Project is a partnership between the BC Indigenous Housing Society, Aboriginal Housing Management Association, Create Climate Equity and Kambo Energy Group, with support from community and clean mobility partners. The pilot is exploring how affordable housing residents can have greater access to practical, lower-carbon transportation options through subsidized transit, car sharing and community-based education.
By the end of August 2026, 50 residents had used the project’s free transit support for 4,285 trips. Since the shared EV launched in April, residents have taken 186 rides and travelled approximately 8,000 kilometres.
"Over the past 9 months, we’ve been building rapport with residents over Timbits, transit support, community gatherings, and more. This event was a celebration of that trust as much as it was a celebration of clean mobility!” said Liao.
To learn more about the project, visit http://cleanmobility.ca/.
The Clean Mobility Project is funded in part by Natural Resources Canada’s Zero-Emission Vehicles Awareness Initiative with additional funding from BC Hydro, and the City of Vancouver. Delivery support is provided by Modo, TransLink, and the Fraser Basin Council.
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