California to Subsidise E-Bike Purchases

Sacramento, California, USA

California may be the mecca of urban motorways and car culture, but their state government is achieving something that no Australian state has yet managed.

California’s latest state budget has allocated US$10 million (A$13.3 million) to help its citizens buy e-bikes. At the time of writing, the funding bill still needs to be signed by the Governor of California.

A separate legislative bill is still being finalised at the time of writing, that will set the rules for how the subsidy will operate.

Its aim is to avoid a blanket hand-out that would allow high income people to receive government subsidies when buying e-bikes. Instead, the money will be targeted to help those with lower incomes. With this in mind, it may be in the form of vouchers, rather than rebates. That would make it easier for people without the ability to raise funds ahead of time to take advantage of the program.

The bill has no official opposition and is supported by a wide variety of advocacy organizations as well as cities and counties, including Los Angeles, therefore is expected to pass.

Information for this article was previously published in StreetsBlog California.