Abdallah Abou-Ismail starts his day with a 14-mile electric bike ride down Middlefield Road to his job at Stanford Shopping Center and an extra $5 in his pocket.

Abou-Ismail, a Redwood Shores resident, is a user of Bike Love, an app the city of Palo Alto launched in 2022 that tracks traditional bike, e-bike, e-scooter and e-skateboard commutes and rewards them with cash to spend at local businesses. It’s one of the ways the city, just about 34 miles south of San Francisco and a neighbor to Stanford University, is gamifying the carless commute to minimize carbon footprints and reduce road congestion. 

“My energy levels are up,” said Abou-Ismail, a Neiman Marcus salesperson, in a phone call with SFGATE. He dines at nearby Zareen’s on California Avenue with his bike earnings. “I don’t need to worry about whether I’m walking or running enough. I feel a lot more sharp and fully awake.”

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In 2025, Palo Alto Transportation Management Association programs reduced demand for 482 parking spaces around town, and led to roughly 2.9 million fewer vehicle miles traveled and 1,152 fewer tons of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the organization. PATMA also provides free transit passes, refurbished bikes and an after-hour Lyft ride service to people who work or live in the city and make less than $111,700 per year. 

Billy Riggs, a University of San Francisco professor who studies transportation innovation, said programs like Bike Love are effective in changing commuting habits, but they’re difficult to fund. One city that’s figured it out is Healdsburg, which provides a $400 rebate to residents to purchase e-bikes.

FILE: Spring arrives early in Northern California’s Wine Country, allowing cyclists to take to the backroads on March 8, 2014, in Healdsburg, Calif.

The state has tried to step in to encourage replacing car........

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