Ontario Government serves up green plates

The votes are in and now select Ontarians will have a new option when choosing a style of license plate for their vehicle.

The ministry of Transportation has tallied up the 14,000 votes from an online poll that helped select a new license plate to represent vehicles that are environmentally friendly. The new plate, that was up against three other contenders, has green lettering atop a white background with a picture of a trillium in the middle. According to Jim Bradley, the Minister of Transport, The McGuinty government is planning to have one out of every 20 passenger vehicles in Ontario to be of the electric sort by 2020. “Green licence plates will encourage Ontarians to think green when choosing a vehicle," continued Bradley. According to the Ontario Governments website, drivers with the plates will be able to use the high occupancy vehicle lanes even if there is just one person in the car, and will have access to recharging facilities at GO Transit parking lots. It doesn’t stop there. Vehicles with the plates will also have designated parking spots at the University of Toronto and other private companies like Walmart Canada. The plate is expected to become available next year and is available only to drivers who own a vehicle that is a plug-in hybrid or battery electric car.