Hello! I’m Sandee Cirian and I’m the project manager for Community Cycles’ Can Do Colorado eBike program. This program works to get ebikes into the hands of low-income essential workers in 2021 at the University of Colorado, Boulder Community Health and two Boulder County Affordable Housing sites, as well as providing Boulder BCycle ebike share access to Boulder Housing Partners residents.
It has been great seeing the effort these organizations are putting into making this program a success. For example, Boulder Community Health will be building a secure area in which to park ebikes during work shifts.
In May we worked on creating the application and orientation processes. We will be looking for participants who can commit to replacing single-occupancy vehicle trips with their ebike at least three days per week.
Our goal is participants on ebikes in July with the warm summer weather to get into the rhythm of riding. Interestingly, our biggest barrier may be the bike accessory supply chain. We are giving participants bike accessories like helmets and locks so they are prepared for safe riding and storage. Sue Prant, our Executive Director, is pulling out all the stops to find enough of these items for all participants.
We are grateful for the support from area transportation and sustainability organizations like NREL, who has developed a smartphone app. Participants will track their transportation habits to show the difference they are making in reducing carbon emissions and single-person vehicular trips. We are also grateful to our other partners, Boulder Transportation Connections, Boulder B-cycle, Boulder Housing Partners and the City of Boulder. They are all playing a role in making this project a success.
Stay tuned – we plan on having the guidelines and application published very soon to begin collection potential candidates.
Questions? Ask Sandee Cirian, Community Cycles Program Manager, sandee@communitycycles.org