Our provincial government has announced funding for the Rural Municipality of Ritchot for a project that will protect the environment.
Last Friday, Environment and Climate Minister Kevin Klein promised $150,000 for a rural car share initiative.
"We're very excited about this," says Mayor Chris Ewen. "Since the day I started (we've) always been about experimenting and taking opportunities with green initiatives and this is one of the big ones we're going to be stepping into."
Ewen explains the goal is to leverage the $150,000 in order to get federal funding so that ultimately Ritchot can have an electric vehicle in each area of the municipality. These vehicles would then be made available for residents who may not have access to transportation. He notes they will work with their partners through Eco-West, Ritchot's Community Development Corporation, and surrounding municipalities to leverage the funding.
"This gives an opportunity for people that might be short a vehicle, that might be lower income families that don't have a vehicle to get around to do their basic staple shopping," he explains. "Maybe a student that needs to get to Providence College, they can essentially rent or borrow the vehicle from the municipality."
Ewen says this is a neat way to introduce ride-share programs in rural settings. Though some of the details still need to be ironed out, Ewen says he is hopeful that they can launch this program sometime in the next six to 12 months. Though he says it will depend on what other grant opportunities are available. He notes they already have electric vehicle charging stations in Ile des Chenes, St. Adolphe, Ste. Agathe and Grande Pointe.
"So literally any section of the municipality you can charge your vehicle and not have to worry about not getting to where you need to go," says Ewen. "It's a great system we already have in place with this infrastructure, and we're excited about the next phase which is the ride-share electric vehicle system that we're getting the funding for."
Ewen says he is a big believer in electric vehicles, having one himself. He notes if they can provide an opportunity where residents in the region have an easier time getting from point A to point B while protecting the environment at the same time, then they have done a pretty good job.