RMOW’s Landscape and Village Services teams will be shifting many day-to-day operational trips to a fleet of cargo e-bikes. These e-bikes will be used to replace vehicle trips during the spring, summer and fall, RMOW said.
RMOW operations staff will be seen on the Valley Trail and accessing areas of the Village with these new e-bikes to carry out day-to-day work. The e-bikes have been customized to accommodate equipment and will be recognizable with RMOW logos.
“Fifty-four per cent of Whistler’s carbon footprint comes from private passenger vehicle trips within Whistler,” said Mayor Jack Crompton. “Adding a fleet of cargo e-bikes for the Operations Team use helps support the Climate Action Strategy to move beyond the car. This tangible action helps us move towards our climate action goals.”
The RMOW intends to use this initial fleet of e-bikes as a test group to understand the potential for vehicle trips to be reduced across departments. The e-bikes are Class 2 pedal-assisted, which is permitted on Highway 99, municipal roads and Forest Service Roads.
The RMOW Resort operations team are also permitted to use these e-bikes on the Valley Trail as an exception when accessing it for work-related purposes only. A similar exception allows RMOW vehicles to access the Valley Trail when needed for work purposes.
To aid in funding this initiative, the RMOW received a post-purchase grant from the British Columbia Specialty-Use Vehicle Incentive (SUVI) Program. The SUVI program accounted for $792 per bike for a total of $3,168 in grant funding.