A cyclist rides along NW Riverside Boulevard in Bend on June 13, 2023.

The city of Bend and Commute Options are teaming up to help get more residents commuting by e-bike. They are launching a rebate program that will provide an $1,800 voucher to 70 eligible residents for the purchase of an electric bike.

The project is funded by the Pacific Power Foundation. The bikes can be purchased from BendR Cyclery and Bend Electric Bikes.

The rebate program is designed to increase access to transportation options, public health and connectivity in Bend. Applicants must be a resident of Bend and be 18 or older.

This is the second such e-bike rebate program for Bend. In 2023 the program offered $2,000 for 75 bikes. Brian Potwin, executive director of Commute Options, said at the time more than 600 people applied for the program.

“We had a good cross section of folks buying commuter bikes, there were some cargo bikes. It was all geared towards transportation and increasing the use of bicycles as transportation. We were successful in that,” Potwin said.

While bike commuters are still very much in the minority in Bend, Potwin says each car taken off the road makes a difference.

“It may not sound like a lot but it does make a big impact on peak congestion hours and also make a big impact on people’s ability to be mobile,” said Potwin.

Applicants must be Pacific Power customers and have an income that is at or below 80% of the area median income. In Bend, that is $83,750 for a household of four. Completion of an e-bike safety course (given by Commute Options) is also required.

William Priest, the owner of BendR Cyclery, said $1,800 is enough to buy a new e-bike. If a voucher holder prefers a bike that costs more than $1,800, the additional cost will be out-of-pocket.

“There are a lot of options for people to have either nothing out-of-pocket or just a little bit,” he said.

Priest said the technology on e-bikes has greatly improved over the past two or three years in terms of security and reliability. New tech includes improvements that allow users to lock the electronics and the bike itself without the need for an external lock.

“The different brands out there are more sensitive to the quality of the electronic components, so the customer and consumer is the beneficiary of that,” he said.

Priest believes that the e-bike rebate program will get more people out of their cars and onto bikes, helping to reduce traffic in the city.

“Seventy people will have the option to not drive cars and use these bikes to commute to work or go do errands,” he said.

The rebate program coincides with recent efforts by the city to improve biking infrastructure. Bend has built new bike lanes on Wilson and Greenwood avenues and other streets in an effort to make east-west bike commuting easier. A safe bike routes project is also in the works to improve signs for cross-town bike commuters.

“The city has a ways to go but they have definitely taken steps in the right direction to help the cyclists out there,” said Priest.

Applications for the bike rebate program open Monday. Interested applicants should visit commuteoptions.org for full program details. Rebate recipients will be selected through a lottery process every three weeks until all 70 rebates have been awarded.