IN BRIEF
On 30 September, during a hearing lasting several hours, the New York City Council examined 23 bills on e-bikes, e-scooters and mopeds. Two of them, sponsored by Council Member Crystal Hudson, would ban, respectively, the sale and rental of Class 3 e-bikes and their use after a two-year transition. A city trade-in programme would swap them for a Class 1 or 2 e-bike, or a voucher. These are proposals, which the city administration greeted with reservations, notably over delivery workers.
On 4 August, the New York City Council announced more than a dozen bills on e-bikes and e-scooters, with a hearing set for 30 September (we covered it at the time). That hearing has now taken place. The package has grown: Bicycle Retailer now counts 23 bills, including a ban on the sale, rental and use of Class 3 e-bikes, and a trade-in programme run with retailers.
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Class 3 e-bikes: sales halted, use banned in 2029
The bills from Crystal Hudson, a member of the City Council, work in two stages. “My legislation in this package would stop the sale and rental of Class 3 e-bikes and, after a two-year implementation period, phase out their use while giving current riders — especially delivery workers — time and options to transition,” she said, quoted by Bicycle Retailer. amNY adds that the city would issue warnings to riders still on Class 3 bikes until 1 April 2029, before escalating fines.
The trade-in programme would be run by the Department of Transportation (DOT). It would accept Class 3 bikes and devices that look like Class 1 or 2 e-bikes without meeting their legal requirements, in exchange for a Class 1 or 2 e-bike or a voucher from an e-bike seller. The target set for the DOT, Bicycle Retailer reports: at least 10,000 trade-ins, depending on demand and retailer participation. Bicycle Retailer adds that the bill would prohibit restricting the programme to a single occupation or income bracket.
The city backs the intent, not the method
The figures come from the police: Bicycle Retailer reports that the NYPD recorded, in the first half of the year, 738 injuries and 13 deaths involving e-bike riders, compared with 601 injuries and 10 deaths over the same period last year. Before council members, however, DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said, amNY reports, that around two of the 17 e-bike-related deaths since the start of the year involved illegal devices, with the cause of three others still unknown.
On the trade-in programme, his administration supports the “bill’s intent,” amNY reports, but has concerns about implementing it. “Standing up a program like this is very resource-intensive and a narrower approach that targets the most dangerous illegal devices could prove a greater impact on street safety,” Mike Flynn said, quoted by amNY.
Delivery workers on the front line
Sam Levine, commissioner of the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, warned against the ban on use. “We have significant concerns of unintended consequences that will most heavily impact delivery workers,” he said, quoted by amNY. “Many of them are immigrants with limited English proficiency and other vulnerabilities.”
Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Workers Justice Project, argues for her part, amNY reports, that the package misses the “root causes” of street safety. amNY presents the 23 bills as council members’ proposals: between street safety and delivery workers’ livelihoods, the Council will have to decide.
