Residents who missed out on the city of Durango’s premiere e-bike voucher program last year will have another chance this spring.

This time, the city has significantly more funding at its disposal.

The city was flooded with over 200 applicants for e-bike vouchers last spring. But with just $50,000 earmarked for the program, the city was only able to award one-fourth as many vouchers, or 50 rebates, Durango Sustainability Manager Marty Pool said.

This year, the city has $150,000 to contribute to vouchers, thanks to a City Council allocation of $50,000 from the city lodgers tax fund and a $100,000 grant from the Colorado Energy Office. The grant came through Colorado’s Local Government Community E-Bike Rebate Grant Program.

That means more rebates will be up for grabs this year through a lottery process with applications slated to open in mid-April.

There is a significant difference between this year’s program and the 2023 e-bike voucher program. This time around, vouchers will only be available to people who meet specific income qualifications.

Pool said gearing the program to income-qualified folks was a requirement of the $100,000 state grant, but it works out in that people with lower incomes have the most need for alternative modes of travel – and they’ve also expressed the most interest.

The city offered different vouchers based on income level last year. Higher earning residents could apply for vouchers worth between $150 and $300, while lower income applicants would have been eligible for vouchers worth between $500 and $1,500.

About half of the program’s $50,000 was distributed to general applicants (no lower income qualifications applied). The peculiar thing is the vast majority of income-qualified voucher recipients used their vouchers. About half of general applicants did not use their vouchers.

Pool said the city ended up shifting some funding for general vouchers to income-qualified people on a waitlist because so many general applicants never bothered to actually buy an electric bike.

“General non-income-qualified people, it just seems like the bikes are affordable enough and they’re either going to buy a bike or they aren’t,” he said.

E-bikes are more common than they were four years ago and people are more familiar with them, he said. They are more practical than regular bicycles, particularly in hilly areas such as Durango, and they are more affordable than cars. Studies show people are more likely to jump on an electric bike than a regular bike.

All of that considered, there’s increasing incentive to get e-bikes into the hands of people who truly need them, as shown in the state grant’s income stipulation, he said.

Another important change for this year’s program is that voucher users will not be able to cash in on both the city’s and the state’s e-bike rebate programs this year.

“These vouchers will not be able to stack with state rebates,” Pool said. “ … They can apply for both but they wouldn’t be able to use both rebates.”

Other rebates such as the La Plata Electric Association’s e-bike rebate of 25% of an electric bike purchase up to $150 should still be stackable, he said.

The voucher program is a great way for residents to get reimbursed for purchasing e-bikes, which in theory means the e-bikes are being used over gas-guzzling vehicles. But Pool said the city plans to help other programs such as Manna’s WAGEES in acquiring e-bike fleets to be put to use by people who need them.

“We’re … interested in exploring that as well this summer,” he said. “Really emphasizing getting these bikes to people.”

cburney@durangoherald.com