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Two new cleaners are taking to the streets — and bike lanes — of Sacramento, and their names are Crunch and Munch.
These bike lane cleaners are towed by e-bikes and manned by riders of the Sacramento Area Bike Advocates. The organization’s Director of Policy and Advocacy Deb Banks said that they got the cleaners to address a debris problem they’ve seen in Sacramento’s bike lanes.
“We can’t wait to take them out in leaf season in the fall, when all of our beautiful canopy falls to the ground,” Banks said. “This is when we need them the most. It’s really to some extent a safety issue for cyclists.”
The SABA has taken on the training of people to operate the bike lane sweepers, which consist of an e-bike towing a roller-brush trailer that sweeps debris up into bins.
“No one is going to be able to take these out and use them before they’ve had training from us,” Banks said.
SABA has been using these cleaners for about a month, and they’re currently ramping up their entirely volunteer staff to clean up the bike lanes.
The cleaners were purchased with one of SMUD’s Shine grants for $13,000. The program, offered to Sacramento County’s nonprofit organizations, helps to bolster organizations that have a positive impact on Sacramento’s carbon footprint.
Kevin Burdick, who works at SMUD’s Sustainable Communities program, said that SABA’s bike lane cleaners seemed unique and effective.
“They really identified an issue, they did all that they could to bring it to the city and the county, and found this very unique solution,” Burdick said. “They’re bringing volunteers together to be able to clean up and adopt these areas that they’re cleaning up.”
He said that SMUD tries to encourage clean transportation as much as possible.
“The more bikes that are on the road, that means that there’s fewer cars on the road,” Burdick said.
SMUD’s Shine program has been in operation for over 10 years, and they’ve awarded grants to over 200 nonprofit organizations in that time.
Burdick said SMUD wants to help nonprofits help Sacramento.
“Anytime we get an application we will work with organizations [and say] ‘Hey, if you didn’t get it, let's figure out how we can make this better for next year,” Burdick said.
Shine awards applications for nonprofits are now being accepted through July 31, 2026.
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