Bike Talk

Melanie Curry, Streetsblog California Editor, and Dave Snyder, CalBike Executive director, discuss the state and federal programs to subsidize e-bike purchases with Nick Richert and Don Ward. Essential Question: should I wait for a subsidy to by an ebike? Answer: Only if you want to wait two years at least. California's AB 117, authored by Tasha Boerner Horvath, which would create e-bike stimulus payments, originated with a CalBike initiative. CalBike organized stakeholders in support of the bill. We also talk briefly about SB 400, which CalBike got passed in 2019 and is just now beginning to roll out incentives for low income and disadvantaged communities in the Bay Area, with other areas to come. SB400 will give qualifying individuals $7500 to turn in an older polluting car and replace it with an ebike (or two) under the Clean Cars for All program, which is funded by cap-and-trade. Also: in 2017, Congress eliminated a tax credit for bike commuters that had allowed employers to reimburse workers as much