Long Beach residents have until Thursday, April 18 to apply for the city’s new lending program that will let 35 people each borrow an electric bike for up to three months.
Most of the bikes will be reserved for low-income residents. To qualify you have to already be enrolled in a state or federal benefit program like CalFresh, Medi-Cal or Medicaid. Eleven of the bikes will be available to anyone as long as they meet the eligibility requirements such as being 18 years old, having an appropriate place to store and charge the bike, and having the know-how to safely ride it.
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This is the first time Long Beach has offered the chance to borrow an e-bike from the city free of charge.
The program is funded with $350,000 in COVID-19 relief funds allocated through the Long Beach Recovery Act.
So far, Long Beach has gotten 709 applications, according to Paul Van Dyk, the city’s traffic engineer.
The people ultimately selected for this first round will be chosen through a lottery. The city expects to notify those people by May 6.
You can see a full list of requirements and apply here.