In the last few years, the city's office of Climate Action, Sustainability and Resiliency has been doling out free money for e-bikes. The program has transformed local bike shops, and it's been wildly popular. And ... it still is super popular.
On Tuesday, Denver made an additional 220 vouchers available.
Reader Maggie Hansen wrote in that she tried, very hard, to get one when they became available at exactly 11 a.m. Tuesday. As a Swiftie who didn't score tickets, she was also disappointed on missing out on the vouchers.
"I have a cast on my left hand, so I had to type with just my right in order to fill in the form. By the time I completed the form (first name, last name, address, phone number, & proof of residence) and pulled out my phone to take a photo of the rejection screen, it was 11:01 and 11 seconds," she wrote us. "Have you guys looked at all to see if there are bots who can fill in the form faster than humans? Are we having a Ticketmaster situation for e-bike rebates?"
She asked us, so we asked the city.
Emily Gedeon, a spokesperson for Denver's climate office, said there's no foul play at work here — just enormous demand. About 17,000 people tried to get a voucher on Tuesday, she told us, more than 77 times the amount available.
"Denverites love e-bikes, and there is much more demand than there is supply of vouchers from Denver," she wrote us. "We haven’t seen any evidence of bots or fake documents during application review. The city’s voucher administrator looks at and approves every applicant’s documents."
Denver will offer more later this year, she said, and added that the state also offers $450 rebates at points-of-sale.
In her vent session to us, Hansen said she's not sure if she'll continue holding her breath for one of Denver's vouchers. "I guess I'll just start shopping around for an e-bike on Facebook marketplace. 🤷♀️"
