New Orleans to expand bike network and offer rebates for e-bikes
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New Orleans officials plan to use $50 million in new federal funding to build bike lanes, start an e-bike rebate program and create other initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Why it matters: It's the city's largest financial investment in climate action, leaders say.
The big picture: The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced it is awarding New Orleans $49.97 million to support greenhouse gas reduction measures over the next five years.
- New Orleans has a climate action strategy to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
- Nationally, the EPA awarded about $4.3 billion in climate pollution reduction grants to 35 applicants.
Zoom in: The money will fund these initiatives in New Orleans, leaders say.
- Bike share expansion: Increase the Blue Bikes bike share fleet to 2,000 and extend services to historically underserved areas.
- E-bike rebates program: Offer 3,000 point-of-sale e-bike rebates over five years, with additional subsidies for low-to-moderate-income residents.
- Protected bikeways: Construct 7 miles of protected bikeways adjacent to downtown New Orleans.
- Reforestation plan: Plant 7,500 trees in underserved neighborhoods over five years.
- Municipal building improvements: Energy efficiency retrofits in 41 city buildings, along with installing rooftop solar panels on 14 municipal properties.
- Solar for All subsidies: Provide subsidies for 1,400 solar installations for low-to-moderate-income households, supplementing state funding.
- Commercial building tracking: Staffing and software to manage an energy benchmarking program for commercial buildings. This compares energy use at similar facilities to assess opportunities for improvement.
Meanwhile, the grant also devotes money to workforce development and training for green jobs, a city official said.
By the numbers: The money comes from the Inflation Reduction Act.
- The city's Office of Resilience & Sustainability will manage and oversee the initiatives.
What's next: The City Council must accept the funding, and the city has to finalize paperwork with the EPA.
- It will be about a year before the city can start spending the money, a city official says.