BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The Bentonville City Council approved the final measure for an E-Bike Rebate Program on Tuesday, March 12.
According to the city's bike and pedestrian planner, Jackie Bubenik, the city has $3.95 million in grants for the program. On Tuesday, Walmart Corporate provided a $750,000 grant and the Walton Family Foundation awarded a $1.5 million grant to go toward the program. The grants will be paid out in three payments over the next three years.
Bret McCormick attended the city council meeting on Tuesday, advocating with Bentonville Moves Coalition for the grant and program.
"It's just like being a kid again," McCormick said of riding bikes. "Remember, the first bike you got? All of a sudden your neighborhood opens up, your world opens up, you're exploring with friends, you're meeting new people."
The program will be only available to Bentonville residents and only Bentonville bike shops can participate.
"They'll be randomly chosen, whether it is income-based or not income-based, and if it's income-based, we'll have to provide some documentation showing that," Bubenik explained.
According to Bubenik, income-based applicants could receive $900 for a standard e-bike or up to $1,300 for cargo or adaptive e-bikes. For non-income-based applicants, Bubenik says they could receive $500 for a standard e-bike or up to $900 for an adaptive or cargo e-bike. In the first year, Bubenik says the city plans to provide roughly 8,000 non-income-based rebates and 450 income-based rebates.
Bubenik says they'll be working with a consultant, APTIM, to administer the program.
"That's going to change an entire generation to be able to get to education and to be able to get to more jobs, increase the geography they can get to. It's a big thing," McCormick said.
Mojo Cycling shop owner David Neal said, "In Bentonville, the e-bike revolution is really happening." Shops like his will be part of the revolution with rebates only running through local bike shops.
"That enables us to help people get what they need so that they can they can get out there and do it safely with the right gear," Neal said. "There's a lot of stuff out there that the quality varies dramatically. And you want to get product that's going to do what you want."
In a memo attached to the city council agenda, Walmart Corporate said, "By facilitating the adoption of e-bikes, we aim to reduce reliance on traditional vehicles, mitigate traffic congestion, and promote a cleaner and healthier environment for our community."
Bubenik mirrors this by saying Bentonville is exploding in population and infrastructure is playing catch up with the growth.
"The big goal is to get people off the street and onto our trail infrastructure and promote alternate forms of transportation," Bubenik said.
"If more and more people are riding e-bikes to and from work, or if they're going out on a date, or if they're going to the movies with their family. If they're doing those things, then that helps to soften the blow of all the cars that would normally be on the road," Neal said.
McCormick says cyclists are thankful for their city's help in providing access to a ride that can be easy or hard, depending on preference.
"My wife has a knee replacement, she gets to go ride with me in places she normally wouldn't get to. So I love that it includes everybody, has everybody in the journey," McCormick said.
"A lot of people come in and think 'I'm a beginner, I want to be on an e-bike.' But we've got expert riders who just want to cover more mileage in a given day," Neal said. If you're looking to ride the Greenway, or looking to even ride around your neighborhood or looking for a town bike or a gravel bike, if there's a kind of bike, there's an 'E' version of it."
Bubenik said the city is looking at kicking off the program in late July. They ask residents to keep up to date with their social media for more updates on the program. He says Bentonville residents will then be able to apply online and by phone.
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