City to add 20 new electric vehicle charging spots to public lots

The Traffic Commission at its Thursday meeting approved Wires Department requests to install new electric vehicle charging stations across eight city parking lots.

Each charger the department plans to install will provide charging capabilities for two vehicles parked in two adjacent parking spaces. 

It plans to install:

• one at the Ash Street lot; 
• two in the Common Street garage, which already has one charger, for a total of three chargers and six parking spaces at the lot; 
• two in the Chestnut Street lot; 
• one at the Crescent Street lot, for a total of two chargers; 
• one at the Embassy lot, for a total of four; 
• one at the railroad lot; 
• one in the Spruce Street lot; 
• and one in the Walnut Street lot, for a total of two.

Tim Kelly, the city’s inspector of wires, said his team is also planning to update the city’s existing chargers and install a dual-space charger in the Waltham Public Library lot, which does not fall under the domain of the Traffic Commission.

Including the two spaces in the library’s north lot, these new chargers will collectively add electric vehicle charging access to 20 of the city’s municipal lot parking spaces. 

Kelly added that the Wires Department would not be adding chargers to the Carter Street lot because it is mostly used for long-term parking and the city has a two-hour parking limit in spots equipped with electric vehicle chargers.

These planned chargers will also change the way users pay for electricity.

Currently cars parked in electric vehicle spots are charged $3 per hour to park their cars, as opposed to the $1 hourly rate all other city spots charge. The additional $2 goes to electricity fees as EV drivers do not have to pay directly for the electricity their cars use at these chargers.

However, the new chargers proposed by the Wires Departments will charge for the electricity itself. So Garvin recommended the commission modify city policy to decrease parking fees at those spots to align with the fees charged at other city parking spaces.

At Kelly’s recommendation, the commission postponed a final decision on fees to the February meeting, before which he says he will work with other departments to determine the fees these chargers will require.