TAMPA — The City of Tampa is bringing back its eBike Voucher program for a second year after seeing huge success with it last spring.

The eBike Voucher program provides approved Tampa residents with an upfront discount toward the purchase of a new eBike from a local participating store. This year, the city is giving away 260 vouchers, ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 toward a purchase.

Darren Scott is the manager of Tampa Bay eBikes, which sells, services, and rents only electric bikes, and while they’ve gained popularity in recent years for leisurely activities, Scot says they’re also becoming a lot of people’s main source of transportation.

“You look at a car payment of $250 plus another $250 in insurance. That really adds up on a grand scale of over a year,” he said. “So if you can make that payment one time, and buy a vehicle that needs minimal servicing, you save a lot of money.”

There will be two rounds of vouchers — one in the spring and one in the fall with standard vouchers for $1,000, low-income qualified vouchers for $2,000, and very low income qualified for $3,000. Scott says these discounts can help a lot of people.

“The individuals who were impacted by the voucher program which made it successful were from all walks of life. People who needed eBikes for transportation to and from work, to school, as well as leisure,” he said.

New this year, the city is including class one and class two eBikes — so bikes with and without throttles — helping provide residents with reliable, sustainable transportation.

“That really grows your radius of where you can work, where you can go to school, where you can live, and I think as the cost-of-living increases, this is becoming a bigger thing,” said Scott.

Applications for the spring vouchers open March 1 and run through March 15. The city is also holding in-person events.