The following post, by Peter Roquemore, Sustainability Analyst for the city, first appeared at the City of Santa Monica website.
In July, Santa Monica’s E-Bike Voucher Program celebrated one year of reducing congestion on our roadways, making alternative forms of transportation more accessible, supporting local businesses, and instilling a love of biking in more than 100 Santa Monicans.
The city’s Office of Sustainability & the Environment created the year-long E-Bike Voucher Program in 2024 to increase access to alternative and more sustainable modes of transportation in Santa Monica.
With a price tag of more than $1,000, e-bikes are often out of reach for many households. The program distributed vouchers worth up to $2,000 to 122 income-qualified residents in Santa Monica, allowing them to purchase a standard bike or an e-bike – and making Santa Monica’s world class bike lanes accessible to even more residents.
In a poll, participants said the program had a real impact on their lives.
One family was able to avoid purchasing a second car to return to in-person work. “My wife is back to work from the office, which is located in Burbank,” they wrote. “We would need to buy another car if we didn’t have the electric bike.”
The benefits of the program extended to the community as well. To support local businesses, the vouchers had to be used at one of three local bike shops: Bike Attack Electric, The Bike Center and Helen’s Cycles, which were selected through a public procurement process. The program generated more than $268,000 in sales at these local businesses.
It also demonstrated the potential for bikes and e-bikes to reduce emissions and convert car trips to bike trips, with 70 percent of program participants reporting that they drove less after receiving their bike or e-bike. And bike trips replaced 30 percent of vehicle miles traveled in trips under three miles.
Since transportation accounts for 60 percent of citywide carbon emissions in Santa Monica – more than any other sector – decreasing single-occupancy car trips is a crucial way to bring the city closer to its ambitious climate and resiliency goals. The city’s Climate Action and Adaptation Plan, adopted in 2019, establishes a target to convert 50 percent of local trips to foot, bike, scooter and skateboard.
Perhaps one of the most exciting outcomes of the program was how much joy biking around the city inspired in participants. An overwhelming number listed the top benefit of having a bike or e-bike as “fun and enjoyment.”
“I never realized how truly fun biking is and how fast I can get around,” wrote one participant. “Plus, there’s so many people biking today, there’s always new people you can meet.”
Read the full report on the E-Bike Voucher Program, which is now closed, in English or Spanish.
