The City of Grand Junction opens applications for the E-bike to Work Ownership Program on Monday, April 15 and those who work or live within city limits can apply through April 30, 2024. The program is funded by a grant through the Colorado Energy Office “Community Access to Electric Bicycles” in the amount of $149,796 and a contribution by The Gear Junction, a locally-owned and operated business. This grant-funded program provides e-bikes to 44 community members who have met qualifications that include living or working in Grand Junction and earning at or below 80 percent Area Median Income (AMI). Eighty percent AMI in Mesa County is $46,050 for an individual and up to $71,050 for a single earner in a five-person household.
Applications are available online in English and Spanish and paper copies are available at Housing Resources of Western Colorado 524 30 Rd. #3. Applications will be reviewed for basic qualifications and evaluated based on the need for reliable transportation in the order they are received. Applications will be open April 15 - 30, 2024, and are expected to exceed the 44 available e-bikes.
Qualifying applicants will be required to submit address and income verification with their application. Housing Resources of Western Colorado will manage the process of receiving applications, reviewing applications for income verification, evaluating reliable transportation criteria, and contacting approved applicants. The program will require applicants to provide a $50 refundable deposit that will be returned once users complete a required program training, a two-month usage survey, and an initial bike safety check-up.
The Colorado Energy Office grant will fund the purchase of 44 bikes while The Gear Junction will provide safety and security equipment, offer rider education and safety trainings, and perform basic bike maintenance over the course of the program. The assistance of a team from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will also be available to participants as they are required to track tips through a mobile application.
Through the relationship with the NREL team, detailed trip travel data will be collected without any attached personally identifying information (PII) helping city staff understand aspects of the program’s effectiveness and preferred travel routes while still protecting personal information. The program will be evaluated to determine how effective e-bikes are as a regular mode of transportation for program participants, the viability of e-bikes as a larger component of the city’s transportation landscape, and the impact e-bikes have on greenhouse gas emissions. The data will also help city staff understand non-vehicle traffic patterns, connections, and sectors of interest for ongoing multimodal mobility efforts.