{"id":17775,"date":"2023-03-06T22:13:51","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T22:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/06\/report-reveals-what-we-can-learn-from-denvers-successful-e-bike-rebate-program\/"},"modified":"2023-03-06T22:13:51","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T22:13:51","slug":"report-reveals-what-we-can-learn-from-denvers-successful-e-bike-rebate-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/06\/report-reveals-what-we-can-learn-from-denvers-successful-e-bike-rebate-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Report reveals what we can learn from Denver’s successful e-bike rebate program"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A recipient of one of Colorado\u2019s several e-bike rebate programs. (Photo: Bicycle Colorado)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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At a time when Portland\u2019s bike ridership numbers are falling, we can look to Denver where electric bikes are bringing new people into the fold.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

House Bill 2571<\/a>, a.k.a. the e-bike rebate bill, is currently working its way through the Oregon legislature<\/a> with strong support from activists statewide<\/a> who know just how transformative e-bikes can be for getting people out of their cars and lowering carbon emissions from the transportation sector. Now, thanks to a report released out of Denver last week, these advocates have more data to back up their stance on the efficacy of e-bike rebate programs.<\/p>\n

After launching its wildly successful e-bike voucher program last April, the city of Denver, Colorado has become an exemplar for why it works to give people money for electric bikes. Denver\u2019s initiative allows any resident to access a $400 e-bike voucher, while income-qualified residents can access up to $1,200, with an additional $500 for the more expensive e-cargo bikes. Every time these vouchers have been offered, Denver residents have snatched them up like hotcakes: more than 4,700 Denver residents became e-bike owners in 2022, and an additional 860\u00a0people benefited from the latest round of vouchers offered in January.<\/p>\n

The report is co-authored by multiple organizations including the advocacy non-profits PeopleForBikes<\/a> and Bicycle Colorado<\/a>, sustainability research organization Rocky Mountain Institute<\/a> (RMI), the City and County of Denver and Portland-based ride tracking company Ride Report<\/a>. Each group digs into a different pertinent topic, like how often these new e-bike owners are using their bikes, what kinds of trips they use them for and how other cities and states should create their own e-bike rebate programs. Here are a few key insights gleaned from the report.<\/p>\n

People use their electric bikes as car replacements<\/h2>\n

Although many people who own electric bikes can tell you how life-changing they are for getting around without a car, some e-bike rebate skeptics have expressed concern that people will use public funding to buy bikes they never use. The Denver report refutes this idea, showing data that suggests people use their new electric bikes a lot.<\/p>\n

The City of Denver\u2019s office of Climate Action, Sustainability & Resiliency\u00a0<\/a>(CASR) sent out a survey to rebate recipients to gauge some of their travel habits. Through the roughly 1,000 people responded to the survey, CASR gleaned that respondents are riding their e-bikes an average of 26 miles each week, replacing 3.4 car round trips. In total, CASR estimates the new e-bikes replace 100,000 vehicle miles traveled each week.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Ride Report has been studying data from a smaller pool of Denver e-bike rebate recipients who used their ride tracking app<\/a> to record how they used their new e-bikes. Ride Report wanted to know if \u201crebate recipients actually ride their new ebikes\u201d or if they \u201csit dormant in the garage collecting dust,\u201d and their findings indicate the former result. 65% of e-bike rebate recipients who downloaded the Ride App were riding their e-bike daily, and 90% were riding weekly.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the report indicates that income-qualified residents use their e-bikes nearly 50% more than standard voucher recipients, perhaps because they didn\u2019t have a reliable transportation method before getting their electric bikes. Oregon\u2019s proposed e-bike bill currently doesn\u2019t include means-testing: regardless of income, all Oregonians would be able to access the same voucher amount.<\/p>\n

One particularly notable data point is that nearly 30% of survey respondents indicated they were new bike riders. At a time when Portland\u2019s bike ridership numbers are falling, we can look to Denver where electric bikes are bringing new people into the fold.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a process to getting these programs right<\/h2>\n

The report gives a rundown on how Denver started its e-bike rebate program and why other cities are embracing these incentives, offering some advice for designing similar initiatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cElectric bicycles reduce barriers to bicycling by helping people ride more often and for longer distances\u2026[e-bike incentives] create low-cost, accessible, and efficient solutions for achieving our nation\u2019s climate, sustainability, health, and transportation goals,\u201d Ashley Seaward and Not Banayan from PeopleForBikes write. \u201cIn the United States, the transportation sector accounts for nearly a third of total carbon emissions. Electric bicycle incentive programs target this specific segment of carbon emissions by making this emerging technology more available to Americans seeking affordable mobility solutions that reduce their emissions and better connect them with their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denver\u2019s e-bike rebate program is funded through the city\u2019s Climate Protection Fund<\/a>, which uses a $0.25 sales tax to pay for local climate mitigation projects including the vouchers. After nine months of the program, the city had spent $4.7 million on e-bike rebates.<\/p>\n

The City of Denver has several tips for cities and states organizing their own e-bike incentive programs.<\/p>\n

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