E-bike rebate program keeps cars off the road, report says
Atlantans who took advantage of a popular e-bike rebate program this past summer are leaving their cars at home, keeping pollution out of the air and using the bikes to commute to work more.
Driving the news: 74% of the recipients ride their new e-bike at least two days a week, according to a new report by the Atlanta Regional Commission.
On average, recipients are driving 40% less to work or school after buying an e-bike using the incentive.
That's based on responses from a survey of rebate recipients.
Catch up quick: The city of Atlanta put up the $1 million in funding fueling the program. PropelATL, a longtime e-bike rebate advocate, helped raise awareness.
Follow the money: Atlantans earning less than $54,000 received a $1,500 rebate for a standard e-bike or $2,000 for a cargo e-bike.
All other residents qualified for a $500 rebate for a regular e-bike and $1,000 for a cargo one.
By the numbers: 11,065 Atlantans — roughly 2% of Atlanta's population — from nearly every neighborhood applied for the rebate, the report says.
734 rebates were issued and 579 recipients redeemed the incentive — almost 80%, according to the ARC, which operated the program.
Zoom in: 82% of the total rebate funding went to people who earn less than $54,000 a year — well above the ARC's 75% target, the report says.
That group of rebate recipients reported using their e-bike to commute to work or school 62% more frequently than the general recipients.
Follow the money: The rebate program pumped roughly $1.2 million into 12 locally owned bike businesses, the report says.
What they're saying: Tayonna H., an English Avenue resident quoted in the report, said she used her new e-bike to commute to work and school and, in conjunction with transit, see her son on the other side of town.
"It has been such a blessing!" she says.
Zoom out: There's e-bike hunger in the burbs; 600 applicants were not eligible for the rebate because they lived outside the Atlanta city limits.
What's next: Atlanta City Council member Matt Westmoreland, who sponsored the legislation creating the rebate program, said he and his colleagues plan to propose another round of e-bike rebate funding.
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