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Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

ridereport.com

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Re: Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

#11

Post by d_sem »

liquidise wrote: post #6
d_sem wrote: post #4

When you factor in the reduced capital costs, carbon emissions, noise pollution, traffic, wear on infrastructure, health benefits, etc of electric bicycles the opportunity cost of car ownership over e-bike adoption is tremendous. The average cost of owning a car in 2022 is $10,728 per year: a figure which blows my mind.(edit: Source bankrate.com, the top hit on google) As a personal anecdote, my household has gone fr…

How is that yearly cost figure derived? I can't imagine it is repairs, gas, tolls, registration and maintenance alone.

My source is bankrate.com (top google search hit) which doesn't provide an exact line item breakdown. Here are some parameters they consider:

- Average Insurance ~ $1,771 per year

- Average Car Monthly Loan ~ $700 per month

- Average repair costs ~ $1,425

- Depreciation of initial investment. (google search returns an average new car - cost to be ~$50,000 USD in 2022)

- Gas

- Registration

Re: Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

#12

Post by dylan604 »

simonsarris wrote: post #5

Not mentioned in the summary but super relevant to understand what they are talking about: > After nine months, the City had spent $4.7 million to provide vouchers to 4,734 Denver residents [for ebikes and equipment to ride in the winter] I'm a bit skeptical of some of this data: > 65% of Ride Report's Ride App users were riding at least once daily, and 90% were riding weekly. In the report, it mentions the Ride App…

4.7m / 4734 residents is just under $1k per resident. I'd love to have $1k back for the purchase of my e-bike. I hesitated a bit on my decision to purchase an e-bike, but that would have made it an instant buy now decision. I'm okay with the initial price I paid for mine, and then the additional add-ons I bought once I realized how much I could do with the thing. It's always my luck to miss out on the free money from the gov't just like the covid payouts.

Re: Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

#14

Post by askvictor »

potatochup wrote: post #7
liquidise wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that yearly cost figure derived? I can't imagine it is repairs, gas, tolls, registration and maintenance alone.

That probably includes capital/depreciation? But I agree it seems high

It seems high as the costs of depreciation are hidden. Also, depending on how the average is calculated, it might include stupidly expensive cars alongside cheapies. But the upshot is that owning a car is expensive.

Re: Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

#15

Post by dylan604 »

WillPostForFood wrote: post #9
jeffbee wrote: post #3

Impressive results. Now the question is will they commit to a program with so few costs and so many benefits, or will they just forget it like most American cities forget their "pilot" programs?

Just looking at reducing CO2 emissions, 0.94 lb CO2e per dollar spent is a terrible return. That money applied to more efficient CO2 reduction options could return 100-1000x better.

[flagged]

Re: Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

#16

Post by j_walter »

Honestly this is not great efficiency. While getting more people of the road is great, the CO2e avoided per dollar is magnitiudes less than what can be done at the private company level.

$4.77M for 2,040 MT CO2e reduced/avoided yearly

My company was able to install a abatement unit that reduced >4,000 MT CO2e yearly for ~$150K. We are doing many more of these, but the cost is way better on a per lb level than this waste of money.

If we are going to get serious about emissions reduction, stop the feel good measures and focus on where it will make the most impact.

Re: Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

#17

Post by stevenpetryk »

Gigachad wrote: post #13

E bikes are amazing for getting around. Did it for years before moving inner city and just walking. The major issue I had was the fear of theft as e-bikes are stolen regularly and cost a lot to replace.

Insurance is pretty cheap though. My ~$2.5k e-bike's insurance for no-questions-asked replacement in the case of theft is $12/month. Probably higher in high-crime areas but still, nothing compared to auto insurance.

Re: Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

#18

Post by ProAm »

d_sem wrote: post #11
liquidise wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that yearly cost figure derived? I can't imagine it is repairs, gas, tolls, registration and maintenance alone.

My source is bankrate.com (top google search hit) which doesn't provide an exact line item breakdown. Here are some parameters they consider: - Average Insurance ~ $1,771 per year - Average Car Monthly Loan ~ $700 per month - Average repair costs ~ $1,425 - Depreciation of initial investment. (google search returns an average new car - cost to be ~$50,000 USD in 2022) - Gas - Registration

> - Average Insurance ~ $1,771 per year

> - Average Car Monthly Loan ~ $700 per month

Both of these are crazy high. Maybe not for everyone, but 1771 per year for insurance you should be shopping around or using a broker. And a car payment of 700, that is up to the buyer, but IMHO that is absurdly high.

Re: Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

#19

Post by ackfoobar »

WillPostForFood wrote: post #9
jeffbee wrote: post #3

Impressive results. Now the question is will they commit to a program with so few costs and so many benefits, or will they just forget it like most American cities forget their "pilot" programs?

Just looking at reducing CO2 emissions, 0.94 lb CO2e per dollar spent is a terrible return. That money applied to more efficient CO2 reduction options could return 100-1000x better.

I get around by bike. Reducing CO2 emissions was the last in the list of pros of that choice.

Scratch that, it did not cross my mind at all.

Re: Denver’s e-bike subsidy program produced more new riders, fewer car trips

#20

Post by mc32 »

d_sem wrote: post #11
liquidise wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that yearly cost figure derived? I can't imagine it is repairs, gas, tolls, registration and maintenance alone.

My source is bankrate.com (top google search hit) which doesn't provide an exact line item breakdown. Here are some parameters they consider: - Average Insurance ~ $1,771 per year - Average Car Monthly Loan ~ $700 per month - Average repair costs ~ $1,425 - Depreciation of initial investment. (google search returns an average new car - cost to be ~$50,000 USD in 2022) - Gas - Registration

Wow, I didn't realize the average price for a new car was so high! Are people mostly buying electrics, full sized pickup trucks and luxury cars these days? Whatever happened to mid-sized and compact cars?

Interestingly just looked and old frumpy minivans are right up there in price too!!

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