City Council Committee Wants Pasadena to Implement an E-Bike Incentive Program to Encourage More People to Cycle

Members of the Municipal Services Committee on Tuesday agreed to the creation of an electric bike (e-bike) incentive program in the city in a bid to encourage more people to switch from cars to bikes to help mitigate the effects of climate change. 

They expressed their support for the program after reviewing a Pasadena Water and Power presentation about current e-bike incentive programs throughout California.

According to Evan Johnson of PWP, Assembly Bill 117 passed by the state legislature enables the Air Resources Board to launch a $13 million e-bike incentive program, which is likely to be implemented in the first quarter of 2023. 

Through the measure, qualifying applicants can receive a voucher of up to $1,250 for a standard e-bike or up to $1,500 for a cargo/adaptive e-bike. 

At the city and county level, there are two air quality management districts (South Coast & Bay Area) that provide grants of up to $7,500 for income qualified customers for the purchase of an e-bike to replace a car. 

In Northern California, one county, which is Contra Costa County, four cities namely Alameda, Healdsburg, Santa Clara, Redding, and one transportation management association (TMA), Alameda TMA, currently provides up to $300 in base rebate for e-bikes, with bonus for income qualified residents.

In the local area, Active San Gabriel Valley (SGV), a local nonprofit focused on open streets and transit improvements, has partnered with the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments on an e-bike rental program called “Go SGV” that is available for residents of the San Gabriel Valley, which includes the City of Pasadena. 

To qualify for the program, parties must be at least 18 years old and must reside in SGV. The program has two monthly pricing options, the classic commuter e-bike is $79 per month and the e-cargo bike is $129 per month. There are also reduced rates for low-income residents.  

At this time, PWP does not recommend adding a rebate program for e-bikes on top of the mentioned programs.

“The state, and CARB (California Air Resources Board) and SGV do have some e-bike programs. What we would like to do is monitor how those do,” said Johnson. “It’s really important to monitor the interest level of the programs and kind of go from there.” 

While PWP wants to study the current programs in the meantime, members of the MSC are in consensus on moving forward with an e-bike incentive program. 

“It’s cool to say that we want to encourage bike use without incentivizing. I think we should do within the city a pilot program and not wait for anybody else,” said Councilmember Tyron Hampton. “I think we should set aside a number… and roll out a pilot program and see if it has a lot of interest.” 

“Like Councilmember Hampton, I think we will turn to the city manager to say it’s worth exploring and we’d like to have a program,” said Coucilmember Jason Lyon. 

“I agree with Councilmembers Hampton and Lyon that we probably should look at a pilot program and maybe not limit it to cargo bikes but to all bikes to get folks out of their cars,” Councilmember Justin Jones said. 

Vice Mayor and MSC Chair Felcia Williams directed the city manager to come back with a report which includes a funding source for the e-bike incentive program. “I would also like to see if there’s an option to have a public meeting – to have a Complete Streets Coalition provide input into the program once we bring it back,” added Williams.