The British Columbia Government announced yesterday that it is giving another $15 million to the "Scrap-It Program".

The laudable program is designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality by getting older vehicles (pre-1995) off the road.

People who scrap their vehicles under program can receive free transit passes, money towards buying a bicycle or up to $2,250 towards buying a new car.

The additional funding will allow the program, which currently operates only in the Lower Mainland, to expand provincewide.

With the extra funding, the government expects the program to scrap between 10,000 and 20,000 vehicles over the next three years.

Since the program was initiated in November 1998, 6,307 vehicles have been scrapped in BC.

In 2007, 971 vehicles were scrapped.

According to the Scrap-It Program, in what was a typical year, of the 971 vehicles that were scrapped in 2007, only two were VW vans: one Eurovan and one Westfalia.

Nobody, it seems, is ready to scrap their VW van.

Sources:
-“BC Rolls out Air Quality Plan” Globe & Mail (June 5, 2008) S2.
-Personal Communication, Scrap-It Program (May 30, 2008).
-Government of British Columbia "Climate Action Plan (2008).