According to a new joint report from the city of Denver and a coalition of state and national organizations, a whopping 71 percent of the 4,734 Denverites who received an e-bike subsidy last year reported that their new rides helped them reduce the amount they drove, replacing an average of 3.4 gas-powered vehicle trips every single week.

According to surveys, nearly one-third (29 percent) of those riders were completely new to biking before they joined the program, and 67 percent came from low-income households that qualified for up to $1,700 in vouchers, which was enough to get many of them their bikes for free. (The remainder received between a $400 and $900 discount, depending on whether they bought a cargo bike.)

“There’s this chicken-and-egg thing; clearly a good network and infrastructure will drive a lot of people [to ride],” he added. “But e-bike subsidies can be this amazing jump start to a much broader audience of people. … Even in a city that isn’t perfect, you still hear stories about people from whom this program changed their lives in a big way.”

By Kea Wilson

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