California finally got its act together this month, rolling out an electric bike incentive program yesterday that had been in the works for years. But while the noble program was designed to help low-income riders afford a sustainable, independent form of longer-range transportation, it was exhausted in less than an hour and left many more people frustrated with its inaccessibility.

 

The program began its initial round with a US $3 million budget, enough for around 1,500 e-bike vouchers. The application opened Wednesday night at 6:00 PM, with widely-anticipated high demand for the relatively few vouchers.

But as several state residents soon bemoaned, even with advanced preparations made before the application opened, it was nearly impossible to finish the application in time.