Quick Take
Due to the high cost of living, starting Wednesday the City of Santa Cruz will relaunch its GO BIKE! e-bike rebate program, with the rebate tiers increasing to $500 as a base amount and $1,000 for low-income individuals. The program is designed to provide workers with cheaper e-bikes and give commuters accessible alternatives to driving.
The City of Santa Cruz’s GO BIKE! Downtown E-Bike Rebate program has long been popular, with 254 e-bikes sold and $134,800 in rebates dispersed over the past five years. And with gas prices hitting a new record high in California this year and e-bike sales skyrocketing, the city has been preparing to meet the continued demand.
Starting Wednesday, the city will relaunch its GO BIKE! program, with the rebate tiers increasing to a $500 base amount and $1,000 for low-income individuals. The program is designed to provide workers with cheaper e-bikes, reduce barriers to biking and encourage more downtown workers to use bikes for transportation.
Claire Gallogly is the principal transportation planner for the City of Santa Cruz and manages the greater GO Santa Cruz Downtown program, which includes the GO BIKE! program. On top of the e-bike rebates, GO also provides things such as free transit passes, BCycle memberships, commute workshops and carpool assistance.
She said the city recognizes that while e-bikes are a more affordable way to get around for many trips than a car, there’s still a large up-front purchase price. As such, she continued, the increase in the rebate amounts reflect what the community is feeling with the increased cost of living.
“Across the board, we have experienced costs going up. People are paying more for gas, groceries, rent, so many things,” Gallogly said. “Rebate has always been a tool to address part of this cost concern.”
People who work within the downtown Santa Cruz parking district are eligible to apply for a rebate, and the program is funded by the downtown parking district’s parking fees. The rebate funds must be spent at Santa Cruz County bike shops, and GO BIKE! is partnering with nine shops across Santa Cruz and Watsonville.
The applications for the rebate program are first-come, first-served starting Wednesday.
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