As you know, we gave away 50 ebikes in July 2021 with the help of a grant from the Colorado Energy Office. The purpose of the grant is to increase access to eBikes for low-income essential workers in Boulder County while maximizing air quality benefits. Let’s take a look at how are participants are starting to making a difference in finances, quality of life, and carbon emissions in Boulder County.
Making a Difference
EBikes are eliminating the need to own a costly car or using a car service, benefitting low-income people financially:
JR, in his application to the program, confessed to not being able to afford a car and that he had a ‘bad Uber habit’. I talked to him when he came to Community Cycles for his 150 mile ebike tune up and he said his monthly spend on Uber is a fraction of what it was. He is using the ebike for 90% of his overall transportation.
EBikes are taking cars off the road:
MN is a low-income employee at CU. She rode a scooter in China for many years, never drove a car until she came to the US. She likes to ride a bike but it’s a long distance from home to work. She is a single mom and is excited that she doesn’t need a car and won’t be as tired as when she rides a regular bike. “There are too many cars in Boulder – it’s too crowded with traffic in such a small city. E-bikes will go a long way to decrease the traffic.”
EBikes are improving the overall quality of life, reducing stress and improving physical and mental health:
MF said her overall quality of life has improved because she plans her weeks better, like running errands after work on her way home using the ebike. She also packs more lunches and is saving money by not eating out as much, or driving to get take-out food. Planning how to dress for the weather every day makes her feel more prepared for the day overall.
RS has this to say: “I just have to say I am seriously enjoying me ebike! I have ridden it to work every shift! It has made my mornings so much better by getting my body ready for my shifts. It is pleasant in the evenings to process my day. I love riding it to coffee shops and my local errands.”
These eBikes Really Get Around!
EBike program participants have been stopping by Community Cycles in Boulder and Small Planet eBikes in Longmont for tune ups for their bikes to make sure the bikes are in good working order. Some riders have topped 300 miles in 2 months – that’s an impressive amount of miles especially for some folks that have not been on a bike in over a decade!
We’re loving seeing folks in person to check on what they think of the program and how they’re using their ebikes.
Emissions Impact
Everyone who received an ebike will use the “Can Do Colorado” SmartPhone app to track their rides to show how they are saving carbon emissions. There’s a dashboard on the Can Do website where you can follow along to see how riders are doing as a group, along with other groups in the same program around Colorado.
You can see here the positive impact on CO2 for September 2021:
Community Cycles is proud to be a part of this program to introduce ebikes to more people in Boulder, and to continue our mission of helping to reduce carbon emissions in our area.