Coquitlam makes changes in City Centre for electrified vehicles

If you drive or ride an electric vehicle (EV) around Coquitlam’s City Centre, changes are on the way.

This week, the municipality announced it will now cost EV owners $1 for two hours and $2 for more time to charge at its six Level 1 stations in the neighbourhood:

• three units in the city hall visitor parkade
  • 3000 Guildford Way, opposite the existing Level 2 chargers
    • users can access the stations 24/7
• three units at the City Centre branch of the Coquitlam Public Library
  • 1169 Pinetree Way, off the initial driving aisle
    • users can charge for up to four hours; no overnight parking is allowed

The fee, which comes after a pilot program, will cover the bill for the electricity and maintenance of the charging stations. EV owners need to bring their own charging cable.

The city also has 10 Level 2 EV station sites where drivers pay $1 an hour for the first two hours or $5 after that time limit. Its Level 2 EV stations, which have chargers attached, are located at:

• Burke Mountain Discovery Centre
  • one dual station
• City Centre Aquatic Centre
  • two stalls
• Coquitlam City Hall
  • two stalls in the visitor parking
• Coquitlam Public Library, Poirier branch
  • three stalls
• Emerson Street 
  • one dual station located on street just south of Como Lake Avenue 
• Evergreen Cultural Centre
  • two dual stations
• King Albert Avenue 
  • four stalls beside Blue Mountain Park
• Maillardville Community Centre  
  • one dual station in the underground
• Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex
  • two stalls
• Tennis Centre 
  • two stalls

E-scooters, bikes

Meanwhile, Coquitlam city council last month extended the Electric Kick Scooter Pilot Project to April 2028.

Officially launched in City Centre last summer with Neuron and Lime, the provincial program aims to provide zero-emission transportation modes to participating municipalities.

Jaime Boan, Coquitlam’s general manager of engineering and public works, told council that the city’s e-mobility program has been “extremely successful,” with 55,000 trips in the first six months, or 300 trips a day, on e-bikes and e-scooters.

Still, city staff and local politicians took a lot of heat from residents, business owners and TransLink about abandoned vehicles, he said.

Boan said city staff worked with the vendors on compliance and added new drop-off locations around City Centre, which cut the number of complaints.

As a result, City Centre now has 21 dockless micromobility stations (white paint and signage to show where to park devices), as well as flexible parking along streets, at intersection corners and along boulevards outside of the designated 7.24 sq. m. zone.

“It’s something new,” Coun. Robert Mazzarolo said. “It’s a learning curve.”

And with the population growth for City Centre over the next 20 years, commuters will have to figure out how to get around without a gas guzzler, he said, by walking, cycling or scootering to their neighbourhood destination.

Last year, Coquitlam’s e-mobility pilot program brought in about $24,000 for the city.

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