TAMPA, Fla. — The City of Tampa is relaunching it’s E-bike Voucher Program after the success of it’s first year in 2023.
The city says the program now has $570,000 in funding, and that it will be able to provide vouchers to 260 individuals this year.
On Thursday, the city held an event to allow Tampa residents to apply for the program and test out e-bikes they may be interested in if they are selected to receive a voucher.
“It saves money on gas, you don’t have to worry about gas if it’s electric,” said Kathy Nash-Beauchamp, who attended the event. “I hope I get one.”
The city says those who apply and have their names drawn in the lottery-style selection process will get a voucher that can be spent toward e-bikes at five participating shops in Tampa. The vouchers will range in worth from $1,000 to $3,000.
Last year, there were nearly 1,000 applicants.
“This is a sustainable, reliable, more affordable mode of transportation for a lot of people in the city, so that why we created the program,” said Austin Britt from Tampa.
Mayor Jane Castor says the city has 130 miles of bike lanes, with more on the way, but bikers like Nash-Beauchamp say they know they still have to be cognizant of bad drivers.
“I know people that ride regular bikes and they’ve been hit so many times,” she said. “I don’t want that to happen to me.”
The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website currently shows more than 1,400 bicycle crashes already this year in Florida, with 35 deaths. Two of those were listed in Hillsborough County.
Friday is the last day for Tampa residents to apply to win one of the vouchers in this round of the drawing. There will be another round of the lottery in the fall. To learn more, click here.