Thread by @shayshinecastle

Next, we're talking e-bikes: Should Boulder do an e-bike rebate program like Denver's? denverite.com/2022/05/18/did…

A member of the Transportation Advisory Board proposed this, according to transportation director Natalie Stiffler, and Community Cycles submitted a proposal for a pilot program.

"Staff is interested in pursuing" this if council is interested, Stiffler says. Because it would take staff time, council has to sign off on it via an informal vote called a Nod of Five.

We would need to delay community engagement for the Baseline Road improvements to do this pilot, Stiffler says. Not a huge delay, but still.

Stiffler: We could launch a pilot program by September.

Denver's was so popular that only 4.6% of everyone who applied received the $$ to buy an e-bike.

Benjamin, who brought this to council: "They exhausted nearly $3M in two weeks. That's how popular it was. The potential success we could have in a community like ours," that was the driver.

Mentions the "economic strain" of gas prices as well.

Winer: Are you being truthful when you say it's only going to be a little bit of staff work? I know how hard it is for staff to switch to new things.

Stiffler: "It will take significant staff time."

Winer: "I do love my e-bike so much, but idk that I want to do that to you."

Folkerts: Is there a level at which this is easier to implement? A pilot program under a certain size? "I do think the high gas prices is a real burden for people in our community." Maybe we should look at B-Cycle passes or enhanced bus passes would be easier to implement?

Stiffler: "We've minimized it to as least impactful as we can. And that still has a significant impact on our work plan."

Friend: I don't want to impact the work flow of the Core Arterial Network. "We need to finish the race we started."

But will support this coming back when staff has time. Wants to know if Boulder County is looking at this, as she believes, and where the $$ came from.

Per the Denverite article linked above, it came from a climate tax passed in 2020 by the voters.

Boulder's own climate tax is up for renewal in a year or two.

Chris Meschuk talking about the staff workplan: We really try to firm that up at the retreat. We try to build in a little slack, but we usually over-commit ourselves.

But if something like this comes up and council wants to reshuffle staff's work plan, they can — through the aforementioned Nod of Five

"What's on the table today is not to debate the merits of an e-bike program," Meschuk says. It's about staff work plan and what you want to prioritize.

Speer will not support this tonight, but when it comes back up wants people to think about "who benefits" and if this is the most helpful thing for them.

This may have been obvious to you bc of the word "rebate" but just in case it wasn't: It's $$ to reimburse folks for something they already bought.

"The last thing I'd want to do is undercut" CAN, Benjamin says, which he helped bring forward with Friend.

Benjamin: "But it does frustrate me a bit that our institution as a whole may lack the agility to take on things like this when the moment needs to be seized."

I'm not sure when Denver started planning theirs, but again, it was paid for out of a tax passed in 2020... so it wasn't necessarily "seizing the moment," as Benjamin says.

He withdraws his request because he doesn't want to delay any other work.

Sue Prant, the head of Community Cycles — and a board member of Better Boulder, which endorsed many of the current council members — spoke earlier about a potential pilot.

"Community Cycles is willing to do whatever it takes to make this happen, regardless of whether we are contracted to work on this or not," Prant said. "This would allow us to get more bikes out," reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled and emissions.

Community Cycles already did a pilot like this,
which gave 50 e-bikes to low-income, essential workers. 46 still being used (some were lost, stolen or returned)

"Data show ppl are replacing a significant number of car trips," Prant said.

Lots of enthusiasm about the idea, though the council majority doesn't want to disrupt staff's current work.

So we may see this again, but not this year.

@threadreaderapp please unroll. Thanks!