Transportation is infrastructure for opportunity. It shapes what jobs are reachable, what healthcare gets accessed, and what schools children attend. And yet, it is neither guaranteed nor affordable for everyone. Nearly 14 million adults in the US lack reliable transportation for daily living – missing work, medical appointments, and basic errands as a result. For low-income households that own a vehicle, transportation consumes over a third of after-tax income. And the communities bearing these burdens are often the same ones living closest to highways and freight corridors – disproportionately exposed to the pollution that comes with a gas-powered transportation system. Clean transportation is an opportunity to change this equation, but only if we center the people facingwho face the most barriers in this transition.

Expanding access to electric transportation and removing barriers to adoption is core to Forth's mission. Since 2018 in Oregon and 2023 in Washington, we have pursued this in part through our role as the Clean Fuels Backstop Aggregator – reinvesting unutilized Clean Fuels revenue back into the communities that need it most, in collaboration with local partners and with additional funding sources. Here is what that looked like in 2025.

Getting more people behind the wheel

For households already stretched thin by transportation costs, an electric vehicle (EV) can feel out of reach. The most effective thing we can do is close that gap through direct experience. In 2025, we brought EVs, e-bikes, and our mobile education space to community events in Oregon and Washington – meeting people where they already were. We also operate electric carshare at affordable housing communities in both states, giving residents access to a shared EV for everyday trips without the cost of ownership. A member in Ashland, nearly 74 and without a car, told us the carshare was the only way she could get groceries up the steep hill to her home. A member in White Salmon used the service regularly and then bought a Nissan Leaf with her husband. "This carshare showed us how great EVs are," she told us.

Charging where people live and work

Even for someone ready to make the switch, EV ownership doesn't work without a reliable place to charge, which is often what is missing for many households. People charge most where they spend the most time: at home and at work. Through Forth’sour Charge at Home platform, we provided technical assistance and education to multifamily property owners navigating EV charger installation, to getwith the goal of getting more chargers into the buildings where people live. Through our EVAL workplace charging program, we supported employers to do the same, because for renters and workers without home charging, access at work can be the difference between making the switch and not.

The ecosystem has to be ready, too

Utilities are central to making this work. They control the grid, they have direct relationships with customers, and have a direct role in funding and delivering programs that help people access electric transportation. In engaging utilities across both states this past year, we heard consistently about the competing pressures they face: limited staff capacity, affordability expectations, and grid resilience demands. Those conversations inform our approach this year, with a focus on smaller, rural utilities that haven't yet joined either Clean Fuels program and have the most ground to cover. Alongside this, we also worked with community-based organizations in Portland and piloted a train-the-trainer model in Washington to help equip local partners with EV education they can carry forward independently.

The work ahead

One lesson continues to surface across this work: The clean transportation transition is already underway and the question is who it reaches and who it leaves behind. For a senior trying to maintain independence, a renter without home charging, or a family already stretched by transportation costs, this transition  is only meaningful if it reaches them. Closing this gap requires sustained work on multiple fronts at once – and it's what we'll keep sharing from the field throughout the year.

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Learn more about Forth's Clean Fuels work in Oregon and Washington at forthmobility.org/clean-fuels