Electric Vehicle Charging Stations and Oregon Federal Lands: A Prospective Policy Analysis

Abstract

In 2022, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) committed $100M towards expanding electric vehicle (EV) charging stations statewide. The policy goal is to provide EV fast-charging capacity[1] for four vehicles per station over the Interstate 5 and 84 corridors, along with the US 101, 97, 26, and 20 corridors. ODOT’s investment establishes clear statewide EV charging corridors for the traveling public, not only in the most populated corridors but also across the more rural parts of Oregon and connecting to neighboring states. In order for the travelling public to access public lands for recreation, economic, and other purposes by EV, the next task is to extend EV charging capacity into secondary transportation facilities, those that access rural federal lands, and on the major destinations travelers are leaving the major alternative fuel corridors for. The key policy questions then are where to site EV charging stations on or adjacent to federal lands, in what priority, and in alignment with existing local, state, and federal EV charging investments. This paper provides a prospective policy analysis for siting EV charging stations on or adjacent to federal lands in Oregon. The paper first outlines the policy issue and context for EV charging in Oregon along with the audience for this analysis. It then describes the theoretical and methodological approaches employed and data to be used. Finally, the paper describes how one would analyze the data and propose an EV charging framework.

Keywords

• City Planning
• United States
• Policy Analysis