ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council discussed plans for a possible second set of e-bike rebates after the level of community engagement with the last one.
In 2024, the city greenlit a rebate program for Atlanta e-bike riders.
Through the program, which ended up having a waitlist due to the high turnout, offered up to $2,000 to owners, depending on how much they earn per year, and what type of e-bike they’d purchased.
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Channel 2 Action News previously reported how the Atlanta Regional Commission managed the applications and when the process ended, reported almost 9,000 people had applied.
ARC called the program a “rolling success” due to the amount of applicants.
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Now, the Atlanta City Council is considering doing it again, citing the “twin challenges of rising transportation costs and climate change,” and saying that e-bikes had proven to be “one of the best ways to reduce emissions by replacing car trips while still providing fast” transportation around Atlanta.
The council is considering providing a donation to ARC to support more e-bike initiatives in Atlanta. Last year’s program was given $1 million from the Atlanta City Council for the e-bike programs operated by ARC, according to documents from the city.
"More than 11,065 unique Atlanta residents applied for an e-bike rebate through the ARC’s program, underscoring significant demand that was largely unable to be met under the program’s original funding allocation," the city council said in an ordinance. "Income-qualified rebates represented 75% of total rebate funds issued and 82% of total rebate funds redeemed, exceeding the program goal for income-qualified rebate funds."
Collectively, the council said in their legislation that e-bike transactions represented by the rebates totaled $1.2 million, which was all spent “exclusively at 12 locally-owned small businesses” in Atlanta.
If approved for 2025, the Atlanta City Council would donate $1 million to ARC and Propel ATL to continue their e-bike initiatives in Atlanta, authorizing the city’s Chief Financial Officer to move the funds.
The program renewal is now up for consideration in the city’s Transportation Committee.
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