Denver, capital of the U.S. state of Colorado, is offering cash rebates for electric bicycles with a view to going green and improving its traffic by riding the wave of the e-bike craze.
E-bikes have been booming in popularity lately, both for recreation and basic transportation.

Denver believes e-bikes could play a key role in reducing its traffic congestion as well as greenhouse gas emissions, and it has been taking measures to make these vehicles more affordable for its residents.

Matt Watkajtys has spent the past several years looking for an electric way to get around town, yet he has no interest in buying a car. Then the city of Denver swooped in with an irresistible offer -- a cash rebate that cut the cost of an e-bike roughly in half for him.
"I was looking at electric skateboards, electric scooters, but none of that solved the cargo problem of how do I do my groceries and get back to my apartment. All of my local trips now are on this thing. It's a blast. I can get where I need to go, I don't have to sweat profusely doing it," said Watkajtys.

Denver has long been haunted by the problem of traffic congestion. A recent study ranked the city 17th worst for traffic impact among U.S. metropolitan areas in 2022.

"Transportation generates 30 percent of our greenhouse gases and it's the number one cause of air pollution in Denver, and over 60 percent of vehicle trips in Denver are single occupancy," said Grace Rink, chief climate officer for Denver.
To address the problem, last year the city began issuing sales tax-funded vouchers that dropped e-bike prices by 400 U.S. dollars, 1,200 U.S. dollars for those below a certain income level. The program has been wildly popular. Terry Willis is among 4,700 residents who took advantage initially.

"I commute to work every opportunity I get, and on the weekends we use it to go to the gym, we use it to go to the farmers market. I think anything we do to encourage people to get out of their cars is a good thing," said Willis.
A new survey indicates 71 percent of those who redeemed the vouchers last year are using their cars less often, taking an average of 3.5 fewer car trips per week.

"They could perhaps use that bike as their first mile, last mile. Maybe it gets them from home to the train and then from the train to work. E-bikes can open up a lot of opportunities for people that they may not have considered in the past," Rink said.
The e-bikes, which help avoid looking for parking and gas pumps, are seeing surging popularity. They are an economic boost for bike shops that saw demand for e-bikes accelerate during the pandemic, with the average price dropping by 500 U.S. dollars last year alone.
"As price of gas went up, people became more aware that there are other methods to get around besides driving," said Houshmand Moarefi, owner of eBikes USA, a local e-bike store.

And while bike lanes are lacking in some areas, the city hopes e-bikes eventually produce an environmental win.
"As we scale up and as people start using them more, we could actually see a real impact on air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions," Rink said.

Denver's most recent batch of standard rebates, now 300 U.S. dollars, sold out in 20 minutes. More will become available in late March when there should be less snow to navigate around.
Other cities are now also looking at similar programs to tackle the traffic problem and go green.