Good news! E-Bike Rebates continue!

Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) are relaunching WE-bike on March 30. This e-bike rebate program makes e-bikes and certain cycling accessories more affordable for people in Washington state.

People living in Washington ages 16 and up can apply for rebates between March 30, 2026, and March 29, 2027. The program will randomly select applicants monthly starting April 13. Applicants only need to submit one application to be considered for the monthly selections.

Rebates alone will likely not fully cover e-bike purchases. Recipients can reduce the overall cost of e-bike purchases at participating bike shops by $300 or $1,200, depending on income eligibility. They can put rebates toward qualifying models of all three classes of e-bike.

To apply for a $300 rebate, you need to live in Washington state, be at least 16 years old, and have a working email address.

To apply for a $1,200 rebate, you also need to have an income at or below 80 percent of the median for your county. In Jefferson County the Median income is $74,048. 80% of that is $59,238. So many younger people likely could apply for this rebate here in the county.

Qualifying e-bike types

The rebate can be used for qualifying e-bikes, e-cargo bikes, and adaptive e-bikes.

E-bikes have batteries, working pedals and a motor. E-cargo bikes are for carrying cargo or multiple people. Adaptive e-bikes provide extra support or stability.

WE-Bike helped nearly 3,000 Washingtonians purchase e-bikes and related safety accessories in our 2025 pilot program.

University of Washington researchers learned rebates motivated people to buy e-bikes they couldn’t or wouldn’t have otherwise, especially people in lower-income households. Nearly half of rebate recipients surveyed said they used e-bikes to travel to new destinations. In all, we offered rebates to 6,861 out of 37,751 applicants from all 39 Washington counties.

Program funding

This grant program is entirely funded through Climate Commitment Act revenues. The CCA supports Washington’s climate action efforts by putting cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs and improving public health.

Other ways to try e-bikes

E-bike lending library pilot program

While many people are interested in e-bikes, not everyone will be able to receive a rebate through the WE-Bike program. People also may not be ready or able to purchase e-bikes for various reasons.

Programs like e-bike lending libraries can help more people try out e-bikes.

Eligible organizations and businesses in Washington state may apply for funding to create lending library programs for employees or communities.

Here’s the website:

They started building a bulkhead for a new home on Hood Canal. Then the feds found out  – Seattle Times

The takeaway here is that a homeowner appears to have ignored multiple cease and desist orders, and knowingly went ahead with construction of a bulkhead when the state and federal laws were clear that he needed permission first. The continued creation and rebuilding of bulkheads on the waters edge (see photo in the article), is an ongoing destruction of shoreline habitat that used to be used by the variety of species using the shore, many of whom are on the brink of extinction. Hard choices *have* to be made to stop this destruction and that sometimes means saying no to people.

It seems clear that it is ridiculous to say, as their attorney stated, that the bulkhead was not, “in the water” as the photo clearly shows water line markings from a high tide at some point in time, likely recently. Is the bulkhead submerged when at high tide?

The article also includes a good graphic showing the ways bulkheads destroy the beach environment.

A judge ruled the structure was built in Hood Canal without a proper permit, and now the homeowner faces a $250,000 fine. Lynda Mapes reports. (Seattle Times)