Testimony: HB 156: Transportation – E-Bike Rebate and Voucher Program

WABA supports HB 156, which would establish an Electric Bicycle Rebate and Voucher Program.

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HB 156: Transportation - Electric Bicycle Rebate and Voucher Program - Establishment

House Environment and Transportation Committee
Washington Area Bicyclist Association – FAVORABLE

February 8, 2024

Chair Korman and Committee Members,

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) absolutely loves HB 156, which would establish an Electric Bicycle Rebate and Voucher Program.

E-bikes boost mobility, are far greener than electric vehicles (EVs) (which still represent cars and trucks on the road), and are more affordable than any type of car. E-bikes open up bicycling as an option for commuting, shopping and other trips around the community, and taking children to and from preschool, and they make bicycling possible in hilly areas and for longer-distance local trips that aren’t feasible on a conventional bike for many people. They do all this while reducing road congestion, because e-bike trips often replace car travel.

Subsidies, in the form of rebates and purchase vouchers, make e-bikes affordable for individuals with financial challenges, so we particularly like HB 156’s focus on Maryland residents whose income falls below a threshold or who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

Many jurisdictions around the county have now established an e-bike purchase subsidy program, including the District of Columbia, in 2023. The Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) provides a very helpful survey of E-Bike Incentive Programs in North America, on their Web site (https://trec.pdx.edu/e-bike-research). On the environmental front, the article 8 New Insights From Denver's EBike Incentive Program provides helpful stats on Denver's experience, quoting an analysts who states, “The success of the Denver rebate program—and its clear impact on reducing transportation emissions—suggests that policymakers need to take e-bikes much more seriously as a climate action tool.” TREC provides a useful Electric Vehicle Incentive Cost and Impact Tool, developed to give public stakeholders and advocates the ability to visualize the potential outcomes of an electric vehicle incentive program, at https://trec-pdx.shinyapps.io/incentive-impact-tool/.

The General Assembly has a wonderful opportunity to make e-bikes affordable for Marylanders with modest financial resources, boosting equitable, green mobility at a very modest cost to the state. WABA urges a Favorable HB 156 committee report and House floor vote.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify on this legislation.

Seth Grimes, WABA Maryland organizer
seth.grimes@waba.org

More about Maryland Legislation

WABA develops and advocates for state legislation to make bicycling in Maryland safer and more accessible and for state funding to expand Maryland’s bicycle network, working directly with legislators and Maryland Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) leadership and as part of the Bike Maryland coalition. We also work on broader road-safety, transit, and environmental legislation and funding, typically as part of larger statewide coalitions. The annual Maryland legislative session runs from January to April, but our work developing legislation starts the preceding summer.

We’re thrilled that several bills we worked on or supported were enacted in 2024, directing an MDOT Vision Zero Coordinator and public review process; the Better Bus Service Act, allowing bus-lane enforcement cameras (with bikes allowed); authorizing stop-sign cameras near schools in Prince George's County; and the Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Memorial Act, addressing penalties for hitting a cyclist in a bike lane.

Our 2024 advocacy included unsuccessful efforts that we will likely pursue in future years. (It often takes years to pass a bill. ) These include a Great Maryland Trails Act, an E-bike Rebate and Voucher Program bill, and a bill addressing maintenance responsibility for sidewalks and bike paths along state roads. Another topic on our list for 2025 is contributory negligence, a prejudicial statute that says that if a crash victim is even only 1% at fault, then they are liable and may not recover (full) costs and damages from the party largely at fault.

More about Laws & Policy

WABA works with grassroots advocates at the local, county and state level to support laws and policies that make it easier and safer to walk, bike, and take transit. And we work to changes ones that make biking less safe, make it harder to build bike infrastructure, or that deprioritize the safety and convenience of people walking, biking, or taking transit.

In practice that means advocating for robust and transformative Vision Zero programs, enforceable Complete Streets policies, and funding for new infrastructure that supports biking, walking and transit.

Other regional legislative priorities include:

Reforming Contributory Negligence (passed in DC, in the works in Maryland and Virginia).
Getting rid of the Level of Service engineering standards in transportation decision-making.
Funding E-bike purchase rebates.

More about Advocacy

WABA fights for a region where biking, walking and transit are the best ways to get around.

We educate policymakers and organize grassroots advocates for to speak up for safer places to bike and walk; and for laws and policies that protect people who are walking and biking, reduce dangerous driving, and facilitate changes to the built environment.