138 Portlanders took advantage of the City of Portland\u2019s first e-bike rebate program. The Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) launched a pilot of the program back in September and reported last night at a meeting of the Bicycle Advisory Committee that there was \u201cstrong demand\u201d for the discounted bikes.<\/p>\n
The pilot offered rebates of $1,600 for e-bikes and $300 for accessories to Portland Community College students. A presentation shared last night revealed that 183 of them finished the application and 138 were ultimately verified. The program directs rebate recipients to specific types of bicycles (Class 1 e-bikes with a 20 mph top speed and no throttle only) at authorized e-bike retailers.<\/p>\n
Below is some of the data BPS gleaned from 202 pilot program participants:<\/p>\n
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- The gender split between male and female was relatively even, with males receiving 80 rebates and females receiving 72. Non-binary people received 34 rebates.<\/li>\n
- When it comes to race, White people received the overwhelming number of rebates with 81. Black Portlanders received 19 rebates, with Hispanic\/Latino and American Indian\/Alaska Native people received 28 and 29 rebates respectively.<\/li>\n
- Just over 9% of the participants were new to bicycling.<\/li>\n
- Asked, \u201cIf you weren\u2019t participating in this program would you still consider buying an e-bike?,\u201d 60% of respondents said \u201cYes.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>Slides from presentation shared last night.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n 13 local bike shops redeemed at least one rebate. The two shops with the most rebates processed were A Convenient Cycle<\/a> and The e-Bike Store<\/a> who both sold 31 bikes through the program. Other top sellers were Trek Bicycle Westmoreland<\/a> (30), Vvolt<\/a> (27), Sellwood Cycle Repair<\/a> (25), and Trek Bicycle Slabtown<\/a> (24). A big measure of success for the pilot is that 88% of retailers said they had a positive experience working with program staff and 100% of respondents said the online portal was clear and easy to use. There were similar levels of good reviews from program participants.<\/p>\n
PCEF Transportation Decarbonization Program Manager Seetha Ream-Rao said beyond the clear success, some of the lessons learned include: more outreach to \u201ckey demographics,\u201d more education on choosing e-bikes, and it\u2019s important for participants to test ride bikes before making a decision.<\/p>\n
Ream-Rao said the main launch of the program will happen in late March (of this year) with a complementary program for adaptive bikes launching in April. Visit PortlandEbikeRebate.com<\/a> to learn more.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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