Look ma, no hands! E-bikes are here!

Did you know that nearly 70% of car trips are two miles or less? 

Did you also know that e-bikes are the most energy-efficient form of motorized transport, consuming the electricity equivalent of about 1,000 miles per gallon of gasoline? 

Did you know that Minnesota e-bike rebates are coming down the road soon (pun!), with the potential of a maximum rebate of 75% of the value of the bicycle up to $1,500?

Zowsa! Hold on to your helmet! Here are three stories of communities who are pedaling ahead of the pack, reaching over 10,000 people!

Clare noted that although they can measure the number of event attendees, the indirect number of people reached from their outreach – people who saw fliers, or read the newspaper articles – is much harder to measure. 

The pilot project has created additional spin offs. “We are continuing the electric bike rentals at the RFC, and will be introducing a few new peddle bikes to our list of rental items!” noted  Sorensen. “The Office of Sustainability, UMM Student Center, RFC, and a few locations in the town of Morris will have a few bikes at each location for community members and students to be able to use.” 

The Project

Our “Bicycle Business Incentive Program” project provided us an opportunity to engage with businesses, promote and encourage bicycling and walking as alternative forms of transportation, and develop relationships with downtown businesses. Key accomplishments included meeting with the Jackson Chamber of Commerce to identify business prospects; partnering with KKOJ Radio and the Jackson County Pilot to educate them and the public about our project and alternative transportation usage; networking with other communities in Minnesota that have bicycle incentive programs; developing relationships with MnWest College administration; developing relationships with businesses and assessing interest in bicycle friendly business initiative; and hosting our annual Bike Month event.

Focus Area

Our project focused specifically on the City of Jackson. We worked with twelve businesses to reach the residents who shop downtown locally. Businesses who opted to participate in our incentive program are now able to have their business on the National Bike Benefits Map. This means increased bike/foot traffic, and participating customers are able to receive discounts at these businesses when they walk or bicycle to the business.

Our project team promoted this project through KKOJ Radio's free FYI program called the “Morning Juice” in January 2022 and May 2022. We also partnered with KKOJ Radio to develop/run PSAs about the project in March, May, July, and November 2022. The Jackson Chamber of Commerce shared information about our project via their weekly e-newsletter and through various Facebook and website pages including the City of Jackson, DVHHS Public Health, and the Trails Committee.

And… COVID-19

While our project is unique, our timing might not have been the best because COVID-19 has impacted many of the downtown Jackson businesses over the past two years. This made it challenging to get more businesses interested in this project and being able to offer additional discounts. 

A bipedal future
This program was a seed that we anticipate will sprout additional business participation and growth in the future. This project is not a “one and done.” We believe it will continue to grow!

Note: Although this project did not have an e-bike focus, Luke Ewald with Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) of Cottonwood-Jackson-Nobles Counties is seeing an uptick in usage. “Seniors are probably the most noticeable cohort, followed by individuals who might have a cognitive or mobility impairment which makes it easier to get around using a throttle-based e-bike or traditional pedal engaged e-bike.”