Editor:
In the Outlook's Feb. 10 article, "Banff caps e-bike price at $5,000 for eligibility in rebate program," it says the $40,000 rebate will help residents purchase 40 to 80 e-bikes.
Mayor Corrie DiManno said she believed the rebate will be “wildly popular”. One per cent of residents is not “wildly popular”.
It is inconceivable that 40 to 80 e-bikes will reduce traffic at any given time. Research from a warmer climate in bigger centres is apples to oranges.
DiManno’s comment about the “$20 to $25” pedal bikes fulfilling a need is classism. What segment of the population will get an e-bike? Businesses should not be included. Such a program should be prorated to income and capped between $40,000 to $50,000.
Council should encourage alternatives. Space to park conventional bikes is limited, but that shouldn’t mean not encouraging pedal bikes.
My Grade 10 urban geography class would have discussed mass transit. Can $40,000 worth of improvements to mass transit yield greater results? Or do the bourgeois not want to take a bus?
Banff is small. How about walking more and getting appropriate clothing? This is not Victoria, B.C., every Alberta resident should have a parka and boots. Able bodied people should walk more, especially a mere two-kilometre commute. I have a walker and walk the one-kilometre to downtown, albeit slowly.
I didn’t fair well in the election, but if I was elected mayor I would not have advanced this ill-conceived and elitist notion lacking common sense that is reminiscent of Animal Farm. This program is beneficial to the wealthy with little to no effect on the underlying traffic issue. This needs to be challenged and kyboshed. In the meantime, encourage walking and using the bus.
Garry Gilmour,
Banff
