A partnership between The Street Trust and We All Rise, a Black and women-led consulting firm, will bring 90 new electric bikes to the region.
Armed with a grant from Portland General Electric and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, The Street Trust says the program will be called Ride2Own and will be, ” a pioneering program aimed at enhancing e-bike safety, equity, and accessibility in Oregon.”
75 of the 90 bikes come from PGE’s Drive Change Fund, which announced their list of grantees last Friday.
The Street Trust says the Ride2Own program will consist of deployments of 15 bikes in four different parts of town. The first phase will be a year-long pilot in the Portsmouth neighborhood in north Portland that will begin October 1st. The program will specifically target Portlanders with lower incomes who would other not have access to e-bikes. Everyone who takes part in the program will track their experience over a one-year period and will be able to keep the bike at the end of the pilot. The other parts of the region that will take part are Parkrose, Milwaukie, and Hillsboro.
Here’s more shared by The Street Trust in a statement Tuesday night:
“Ride2Own will go beyond most current eBike subsidy programs – delivering not only free eBikes, but also training , safety gear, maintenance/repairs, and community- building events. The program design and execution is advised by compensated community members and transportation experts across disciplines to support the integrity and accessibility of each pilot. Ride2Own’s overarching goal is to create positive, transformative experiences through eBiking and initiate a ripple effect that expands sustainable transportation options for residents and reduces the amount that people drive (VMT, vehicle miles traveled) across the region.”
“Through Ride2Own, we’re providing more than free e-bikes,” added The Street Trust Executive Director Sarah Iannarone, “We’re equipping, educating, and empowering community members who’ve been historically excluded from e-mobility.”
A media and launch event are set for the end of this month.