WA now accepting e-bike rebate applications, will select lottery winners monthly starting April 13

Last year, WSDOT doled out the entire first year of e-bike rebates in one big springtime lottery, but the agency has revamped the “WE-Bike” program to meter out the rebates with awards by lottery on the second Monday of every month for a full year starting April 13.

Any Washington State resident 16 years or older can apply online now. There is no income eligibility, though if selected your income will affect how big the rebate will be. Anyone is eligible for a $300 rebate, but people with a household income at or below 80% of area median income are eligible for a $1,200 rebate. The rebate is applied at the register, which should make it easier for folks who can’t afford to front the full cost of a bike and then wait for a rebate.

If you applied in 2025, you will be to apply again for 2026. But once you apply this time, you will be included automatically in future monthly rounds. Once you verify your email, be sure to complete the pre-application steps, which only take a few minutes.

Rebates can be used at participating retailers with physical locations in Washington State, and can only be used on Class 1, 2 or 3 e-bikes as defined in state law. Note that the state legislature passed clarifications to the e-bike classifications to take effect “immediately.” The Governor signed the law March 23, so it is in effect now (see the text of the certified law here (PDF), which is not yet in the RCW online).

The e-bike rebate program is perhaps the first tangible impact from the new e-bike law. Most e-motos already did not meet the previous e-bike definition, though there were surely some edge cases. Now it is clear that the rebate definitely cannot be used on any throttle-powered device that does not have working pedals (pegs don’t count) or that has power or speed limits that are intended to be easy for the user to override.

The rebates can also be used to purchase adaptive cycles, which is great because those can be prohibitively expensive and are rarely covered by insurance.

#SEAbikes #Seattle

Wire thieves keep causing bike path blackouts

Just as an organized group of neighbors finally convinced SDOT, Seattle Parks, Seattle City Light and WSDOT to figure out how to get the lights working after two years of darkness along the I-90 Trail in Sam Smith Park, another biking and walking path goes dark. WSDOT sent out an alert that wire thieves have struck the Montlake area, and lights for the biking and walking path were among those that lost their power connections.

The good news is that WSDOT says it is already working on fixing the issue, so we shouldn’t need to wait two years again (though let’s keep an eye out to make sure they come back on).

In both cases, the cause of the lighting outage was wire theft, which has been a problem for a long time. The area around the Spokane Street Bridge, for example, seems to get hit often. So there’s not exactly any news here except to say that if you notice the lights are out at night, definitely report it. Don’t assume the agency in charge already knows about it or simply forgot to turn them on. In Seattle you can use the Find It Fix It app. In other jurisdictions, look for how to submit a maintenance or service request.

If you’re a thief, come on! Don’t steal the wires for path lighting. That sucks. If you’re a metal recycler who buys scrap wire you know is stolen, stop doing that! There, I’m sure my admonishment has put this problem to bed.

#SEAbikes #Seattle

“ OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Transportation is relaunching the state’s WE-Bike e-bike rebate program on March 30 to help even more travelers get rolling with active transportation.
People living in Washington ages 16 and up may apply for rebates any time between March 30, 2026, and March 29, 2027, through an upcoming application portal. “

https://wsdot.wa.gov/about/news/2026/washingtons-e-bike-rebate-program-opening-second-application-round-march-30 #WSDOT #EbikeRebate

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@iampytest1/115980534212744514

I asked someone I know who lives in Washington State, and who both follows Washington politics and uses the Good To Go toll pass.
She said she had not received the email and had heard nothing about it.

Based on that and https://social.seattle.wa.us/@garland/115980579828791570, I am suspicious about the authenticity of these claims.
If anyone has received this email or can provide any reliable information about it, please contact me.

That said, accurate.you is a real website which was registered earlier this month and currently redirects to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths,_detentions_and_deportations_of_American_citizens_in_the_second_Trump_administration

I can not confirm the website ever redirected to fuckice.org, as no archive of the website exists (I just archived it today but that doesn't help).

#Cybersecurity #WSDot