E-Bike

The move follows the city council’s April decision to create a permanent program after a pilot ended in 2024.

This month, Bend launched a rebate program to help get more e-bikes into lower-income households. And the Deschutes National Forest is also moving closer to allowing certain e-bikes on a select number of trails.

Beginning July 1, electric-assisted bicycles will be allowed in most areas of Oregon state parks where regular bicycles currently are allowed, and on almost all wet-sand stretches of the state’s 363 miles of ocean beaches.

The likely future of riding electric bikes on popular trails in central Oregon was laid out in a draft plan by Deschutes National Forest officials Tuesday.

Pre-pandemic, electric bikes, or E-bikes, were already one of the fastest growing sectors in the transportation industry. Now, with more people taking an…