“The really beautiful mountain e-bikes and road e-bikes run quite a bit higher than $5,000 so I think $5,000 is a good lid in terms of a commuter-style bike.”
BANFF – The Town of Banff is gearing as much as roll out its new rebate program for electrical bikes.
The $42,000 program, to be funded from income from customer paid parking, bought the ultimate nod of approval in the 2022-24 working price range and must be launched in late February.
Councillor Barb Pelham was profitable in her try to cap the price of an e-bike at $5,000 as a part of the eligibility standards.
“The intention of this motion is to ensure that the e-bikes being purchased with this subsidy are e-bikes whose primary function would be commuting around town,” she mentioned.
“The really beautiful mountain e-bikes and road e-bikes run quite a bit higher than $5,000 so I think $5,000 is a good lid in terms of a commuter-style bike.”
There are many various kinds of e-bikes, with some solely having a small motor to help a rider to pedal. E-bikes use rechargeable batteries and might journey as much as 25-32 km/h.
Councillor Kaylee Ram voiced sturdy help for Coun. Pelham’s transfer, saying the cap on the price of an e-bike means the rebate program received’t be abused.
“The priority for this really is for people who couldn’t afford an e-bike to begin with, or those who want to get into it more, or have as their main transportation,” she mentioned.
“The likelihood of them being able to afford something over $5,000 is minimal and this is just to ensure that the priority is really given for those who want to use this as their primary transportation and not another addition into someone’s garage.”
The $42,000 program – as much as $40,000 for e-bike rebates and $2,000 for advertising and communications – will permit for between 40 and 80 e-bikes.
The program features a 30 per cent rebate of as much as $750 on the full buy per residential family, and a 20 per cent rebate capped at $750 for companies, with a most of two e-bikes per enterprise.
There can be a sliding scale for residents who’re a part of the low-income Banff Access program – 50 per cent or as much as $1,000 of the acquisition value for tier 1 and 40 per cent or as much as $900 of the acquisition value for tier 2.
Town of Banff officers say incentives are efficient as a result of the typical price for an e-bike – about $3,500 in North America – could be a important monetary barrier, particularly for low-income earners and households.
With the current increase of e-bikes, they are saying researchers have begun to review e-bike buy incentive applications and have discovered they are often an efficient software to scale back common automobile use.
“Recent studies have shown that e-bikes encourage users to travel farther and more often than traditional bicycles,” mentioned Michael Hay, the Town of Banff’s atmosphere and sustainability supervisor.
Hay pointed to a research in the United States that discovered 62 per cent of e-bike journeys changed journeys that in any other case would have been taken by automotive. Of these, 45.8 per cent had been commute journeys to work or faculty.
“Another e-bike lending study found that compared to before the trial, the amount of people commuting to work by bicycle in the study group doubled from 28 per cent to 59 per cent,” he mentioned.
Councillor Hugh Pettigrew relentlessly tried to have typical pedal bikes included in the rebate program, however misplaced on a 5-2 vote with help coming solely from Coun. Ted Christensen.
He mentioned the price of an e-bike even with the rebate is past the monetary technique of most individuals, including the municipality was making a two-tier system with out including common bikes.
“I don’t think anybody that is on minimum wages, with tips in some cases, are going to be able to even get a loan to get a bicycle of that sort, never mind being able to afford one on their own,” he mentioned.
“Not everybody has the same means to participate in these programs.”
Mayor Corrie DiManno pointed to the rummage sale from misplaced and located common bikes collected by the bylaw division all year long.
“They do sell bikes for anywhere between $20 and $25, so we do have a program in which we try to get bikes out there in a very affordable way and I believe we’re fulfilling that need currently,” she mentioned.
Mayor DiManno mentioned bike racks in summer season are crammed to the brim with typical bikes and added an e-bike rebate program goals to encourage mode shift.
“So we don’t need to incentivize conventional biking, but I do think we have a long way to go in terms of creating the infrastructure for conventional biking,” she mentioned.
Councillor Olver additionally voted in opposition to together with typical bikes, saying the rummage sale and the non-profit Community Cruisers helps residents get on bicycles at cheap costs. However, after a break in the hours-long assembly, Coun. Olver got here again to say she did need common bikes included in the rebate program.
After dropping the vote on his movement, Coun. Pettigrew then tried to chop the rebate program from $40,000 to $20,000 – the unique quantity proposed by administration early in service overview.
“I am a bit disappointed that we think that residents that can’t afford an e-bike need to be satisfied with a used or repaired bike… I was hoping to close the gap between those who can and those who can’t,” he mentioned.
“If we can’t do this, I will certainly make a motion to cut that budget in half,” mentioned Coun. Pettigrew, with the vote ending 5-2.
Mayor DiManno mentioned the $40,000 shall be sufficient for rebates for anyplace from 40 to 80 e-bikes.
“I think this is going to be wildly popular, so I want to give the leeway of the up to $40,000,” she mentioned.
Within Canada, e-bike rebate applications are being supplied below totally different fashions throughout varied provinces and cities.
The City of Edmonton launched a 30 per cent rebate of as much as $750 in 2020, which was totally subscribed below the $50,000 allocation. The Yukon is providing a 25 per cent rebate of as much as $750 for a typical e-bike and $1,500 for a cargo bike. Nova Scotia launched a $500 rebate program at the purpose of buy for e-bikes the place the full buy price was above $1,200.
British Columbia’s Scrap It automobile program provides people $1,050 in direction of an e-bike buy when scrapping an previous automobile, and B.C.’s pilot cargo bike program offers a 33 per cent rebate as much as $1,700 to collaborating companies.