Whereas transportation is the single largest greenhouse gas GHG emission source for most BC communities, and accurately tracking these emissions is critical for all local governments as well as for the Province of British Columbia to be able to implement effective climate change mitigation initiatives and achieve GHG emission reduction targets; And whereas the provincial government does not currently provide accurate transportation emissions data to BC communities to enable them to work strategically and measurably in the reduction of community transportation emissions: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the Province to require the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia ICBC to collect odometer readings from all customers at the time of vehicle insurance purchase and renewal and provide aggregates of this information to local governments in order to enable effective and targeted local government action on transportation GHG emissions reduction.
Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General The Province and ICBC support measures that protect a healthy environment and promote GHG reduction. ICBC does not require customers to disclose their odometer reading when renewing their insurance; however, ICBC provides an incentive for customers by offering a low kilometre discount Distance Factor in ICBCs Basic Tariff to those who drive less than 5,000 kilometres. The data provided by customers for this discount is on a volunteer basis, and the quantity of data is limited; however, the proportion of vehicles in a geographic area that qualify for the reduced rating from the Distance Factor may be useful data, with an increasing proportion indicating progress around reducing GHGs. ICBC recently launched a new website that includes vehicle population data which can be sorted by municipality, vehicle type or area based on the first three characters of the postal code. This data is now public in a customizable, convenient format that will make data available in a timelier manner and is in keeping with the Provinces commitment to transparency.