138 Portlanders took advantage of the City of Portland’s 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 “strong demand” for the discounted bikes.
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.PCEF Strategic Communications Manager Elizabeth Stover tells BikePortland, “We have 123 more Portlanders on e-bikes and boosted local business by putting $250,037 in the hands of our Portland bike shops.”
Below is some of the data BPS gleaned from 202 pilot program participants:
- 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.
- 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.
- Just over 9% of the participants were new to bicycling.
- Asked, “If you weren’t participating in this program would you still consider buying an e-bike?,” 60% of respondents said “Yes.”
13 local bike shops redeemed at least one rebate. The two shops with the most rebates processed were A Convenient Cycle and The e-Bike Store who both sold 31 bikes through the program. Other top sellers were Trek Bicycle Westmoreland (30), Vvolt (27), Sellwood Cycle Repair (25), and Trek Bicycle Slabtown (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.
PCEF Transportation Decarbonization Program Manager Seetha Ream-Rao said beyond the clear success, some of the lessons learned include: more outreach to “key demographics,” more education on choosing e-bikes, and it’s important for participants to test ride bikes before making a decision.
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. BPS will expand offerings in the full launch, adding Class 2 e-bikes and cargo e-bikes (which will qualify for a $2,350 rebate). Visit PortlandEbikeRebate.com to learn more.
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“Free” money from beleaguered Portland taxpayers shows “strong demand”. What a surprise…..
I’m happy to see my tax dollars go toward programs like these. Automobile drivers have been the beneficiaries of socialized subsidies for far too long!
This program seems like a winner all around. I couldn’t tell from the stats whether ALL of the 138 e-bikes were purchases locally – maybe some were mail-order?
That’s a real winner – pumping so many $$ into our local economy helps everyone.
We can’t know if the program is a winner until we get some data back about how much these bikes are used, how much driving they displace, and how long the bikes stay in use.
I think Fred has their finger on the pulse of the popular opinion. Actual success setting us all up for a better tomorrow with a resilient local environment and a economy based on resilience is nowhere as important as getting the money from the “big corporations” out to the population. The original goals were:
It’s clear from the awards given out and the support given them by people here that the Economic Opportunity and Equity and Community Leadership seem to be the priorities.
As long as the money flows to the right people and new things are bought and handed out, no matter how disposable they are, its a win.
If it’s anything like The Street Trust’s Ride2Own program, the majority of participants will be racking up serious miles. Since our first deployments in 2023, we’ve seen numerous R2O bikes come in for service or checkups that have been steadily logging hundreds of miles per month.
Out of the 27 Erides pilot program vouchers we redeemed at Vvolt, we identified one customer who was primarily seeking a free toy. 97% are in it to get themselves a better transportation option.