Denton’s E-Bike Rebate Proves Wildly Popular in Its First Year
April 27, 2024
Steven Wyman was among the first recipients of Denton’s new e-bike rebate program.
Denton’s first-ever rebate for electric bicycles exceeded its initial funding of $20,000 within three months after its launch, according to Katherine Barnett, Sustainability Manager for the City of Denton. The rebate launched on October 1, 2023 and ran out of funding in mid-December.
In its first seven months, the program granted 66 e-bike rebates for a total of nearly $50,000, according to Barnett. The rebate is part of the $1 million GreenSense Incentive Program, which offers rebates to customers of Denton Municipal Electric (DME) for energy efficiency upgrades to homes as well as the purchase of an electric vehicle.
DME customers who purchase an e-bike and meet the program criteria are eligible for a rebate up to $1,000 or 50 percent of purchase cost , whichever is less.
The GreenSense program reserves funding to each of its rebate categories. When a category runs out of funding, rebates are not granted for that category until more funding is identified or the program receives its new round of funding in October each year.
According to Barnett, some unprogrammed funding was identified to offer rebates beyond the original $20,000 for e-bikes, but they are now placing individuals on a waitlist until additional funding is identified.
Denton resident, Steven Wyman, was an early recipient of the new e-bike rebate, submitting his rebate application in October. Wyman, who lives near downtown Denton and owns a car, decided to purchase an e-bike after traveling around Denton on a regular bicycle and quickly discovering the challenge of climbing certain hills around downtown and near Texas Woman’s University.
An e-bike, “opens up a wider range,” said Wyman. “You can go a bit further, not get as tired. You don’t have to drive.”
When asked why he chooses to bike instead of drive, Wyman responded that he doesn’t like driving and lives within a half mile of downtown. “Why do I need to drive half a mile and have to find parking 10 minutes beforehand? It’s easier to [bike] where I live than driving everywhere.”
E-bike rebates are a popular program among U.S. cities as they seek to reduce automobile congestion, traffic emissions and the high costs associated with people driving for every trip.
The City of Denton maintains roughly 1,400 lane miles of roadway. This amounts to roughly $1.4 billion of roads that Denton taxpayers must pay to maintain and reconstruct when they reach end-of-life every 20-50 years. About half of Denton’s publicly-funded street space is dedicated to free storage for automobiles that are not in use.
Recognizing the potential savings for household transportation budgets and the city’s bottom line, cities like Denver, Colorado invested millions to encourage residents to use e-bikes more often as a cleaner, more compact way to move about the city. In its first year, Denver provided 4,734 rebates to its residents, according to a white paper by Ride Report.
Looking at the future of Denton’s e-bike rebate, Wyman hopes to see expanded opportunities for households with more than one person living in them. Currently, each Denton household is eligible for only one e-bike rebate every three years.
In its second year, Barnett hopes to see a substantial increase in funding for the e-bike rebate. She also hopes to survey rebate recipients to learn more about how they’re using their e-bike.
Anyone interested in the e-bike rebate can find its requirements in the GreenSense Program Manual. For questions about funding levels or current waitlist prior to purchase, email rebates@cityofdenton.com.
