Sustainable Transportation Fair to feature electric vehicles

The UF Office of Sustainability will teach students about sustainable transportation — including electric cars — on campus Wednesday.

The annual Sustainable Transportation Fair, organized by the UF Office of Sustainability, will be held Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the northeast corner of the Reitz Union North Lawn. This is the third year the event will give students the chance to learn about electric vehicles, including e-bikes, Segways, and electric cars, said Joe Adams, the office manager.

“There will be members of the UF community there with their own e-vehicles to discuss their ownership experiences,” he said.

The fair’s electric vehicle expo was organized to inspire students to purchase the energy-efficient cars, said Allison Vitt, the outreach and communications coordinator.

“If you’re curious about what it’s like to own or drive a Nissan Leaf — how far do you get on this thing, do you ever run out of charge, what does that do to your electricity bill — this is your chance to talk to those people that actually own or drive those vehicles,” Vitt said.

Adams said he hopes UF students and faculty are inspired to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions after the event.

“Transportation emissions make up a large part of UF’s carbon footprint,” he said. “Engaging sustainable transportation solutions is an easy and accessible way for the UF community to contribute to making UF a more sustainable campus.”

Alyssa Towns, an intern for the Office of Sustainability, said using sustainable transportation is more convenient than driving a car.

“We all know parking on campus is extremely difficult,” Towns said. “It’s important that UF students, staff and faculty know their other options and see how easy it is to use these other options.”

Vitt said the event also aims to encourage UF administration to invest in sustainable transportation. The Office of Sustainability helped make a goal at their 2015 Earth Day event to transition 10 percent of vehicles owned by UF  to electric vehicles within the next five to 10 years, she said.

“We’ve been working toward trying to push that out to the different departments and colleges on campus to let them know that if they are thinking about purchasing a new vehicle for their office, to consider an electric vehicle, because this is part of our goal for the university,” she said.