Building an E-Micromobility Future
Building an E‑Micromobility Future
How to Encourage the Safe and Sustainable Growth of E-Bikes and Other Lightweight Electric Vehicles on New York City Streets
Electric-powered bikes, cargo bikes, and scooters — collectively known as “e-micromobility” — are transforming how New Yorkers get around. Every day, these new transportation options become increasingly affordable, accessible, and desirable to New York City residents. This presents a tremendous opportunity to shift people out of cars. More e-micromobility trips would reduce traffic violence, pollution, and emissions, and make our city more accessible to older New Yorkers, families, those with disabilities, and those without easy access to public transit. It would also revolutionize freight delivery and provide tremendous economic opportunity. Whether we successfully and safely embrace this opportunity hinges on three key elements:
More Space and Improved Designs to Accommodate More Modes: We must transform our car-centric streets into spaces that support a diversity of transportation options and expand existing bike-exclusive space to make room for e-micromobility through the creation of new dedicated lanes and the widening of existing bike lanes.
Incentives to Transition: We must encourage New Yorkers to transition away from car-ownership by making e-micromobility accessible and affordable with financial incentives, and by building new infrastructure for safe and convenient e-micromobility use.
Rules and Resources for Safe Use: We must aid New Yorkers in safely charging and storing their e-micromobility batteries, as well as safely operating their e-bikes and scooters, by providing rules and resources, such as battery trade-in programs and safe public charging requirements, that make it safe and easy for New Yorkers to use e-micromobility.
We must act quickly: while our transportation landscape is already shifting, our infrastructure has not kept up. Not only does this mismatch fail to seize the opportunity presented by e-micromobility, it also creates dangerous conditions for all road users, especially the most vulnerable — children, older adults, and those with limited abilities. With massive federal investment and support for car, truck, and bus electrification and growing consumer demand for e-micromobility, now is the time to make the major investments that will enable e-micromobility to become a safe, viable option for more New Yorkers.
We need bold leadership to embrace the transformative growth of e-micromobility. Reducing car trips is the single greatest thing we can do today to make our streets safer, our air cleaner, our buses faster, and our city less congested. Affordable, efficient transportation access is the single most important factor in the potential to escape poverty, and it is critical to our city’s equitable future.
This paper was developed by Transportation Alternatives with input from our partner organizations including Los Deliveristas Unidos, the Equitable Commute Project, New York League of Conservation Voters, People for Bikes, and the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA. It outlines specific policies that will safely and sustainably support New York City’s transition to a multimodal future.
A note on definitions: Our working definition of e-micromobility is a wheeled vehicle that is fully or partially electricity-powered, has a width of 48" or less, and is meant to be used in bike lanes, on paved roadways, and paths. This includes e-bikes and e-kick scooters, as defined by New York State law. This excludes solely human-powered vehicles, ATVs, dirt bikes, motorcycles, and gas-powered mopeds.
More Space for More Modes
Research shows that when we build safe, dedicated space on the street for bicycling, people are more likely to choose to ride a bicycle and more likely to abide by traffic laws, such as not riding on the sidewalk. This evidence should guide how we redesign streets for e-micromobility. By repurposing space for cars into space for more modes, New York City can ensure that more people adopt e-micromobility and use these devices safely. As a first step, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) should create a toolkit of best practices for widening bike lanes to accommodate e-micromobility as well as creating dedicated e-micromobility lanes.
DOT debuted its first double wide bike lane in April on four blocks of Ninth Avenue in Chelsea.
Expand Existing Bike Lanes: On streets with existing bike lanes, widen lanes to allow for safe passing by users traveling at different speeds and with consideration for the width of electric cargo bikes. By 2025, to meet already existing demand, NYC DOT should widen at least 25% of existing lanes. It should also ensure all of these lanes are protected and buffered from automobiles. Where possible, two-way lanes can help reduce the unsafe practice of “salmoning,” or riding against traffic. Retrofitted intersections with bike lanes should be safe and maneuverable for the larger turning radius of a cargo e-bike. Motorcycles and mopeds should be prohibited from bike lanes.
Create Dedicated 20 mph limited E-Micromobility Lanes: On high traffic routes and where conditions allow, convert a car-traffic lane into a dedicated lane wide enough for passing and side-by-side use of e-micromobility, alongside a separate lane for non-electric bikes and kick scooters. E-micromobility lanes should be speed limited to devices traveling 20 mph or less. On bridges, configure lane space to allow for safe crossing by pedestrians, cyclists, and e-micromobility users. This may require converting a lane of car space to additional separated bike or 20 mph limited e-micromobility lanes.
Daylight All Intersections: Create 25-foot sightlines to ensure that pedestrians — the most vulnerable road users — as well as bike and e-micromobility users, are visible to drivers by removing the four to eight car-parking spaces closest to every intersection. Replace car parking around intersections with separated, secure bike and e-micromobility parking, public charging stations, and other neighborhood amenities that retain 180 degrees of visibility for all road users. In Hoboken, there have been no traffic fatalities for six years – a feat they largely attribute to universal daylighting.
Ensure Access to Parks and Greenways: Lift restrictions on e-micromobility access, including existing e-bike bans on the Hudson River Greenway; e-micromobility should be allowed on greenways and in parks wherever non-electric bikes are allowed. New York City’s parks and greenways serve as critical connectors for an incomplete network of bike lanes. Restrictions on e-micromobility access limit the extent to which e-micromobility can succeed as a transportation alternative.
Update Road Markings and Signage for E-Micromobility: Design lanes; including signage, wayfinding, street texture treatments, and road markings; to ensure that use is intuitive and safe for all users, especially pedestrians, and to reduce the likelihood of conflicts.
Collect Data on E-Micromobility Use to Inform Future Space Reallocations: Pass new regulations that require NYC DOT to collect data on e-micromobility to help inform where more dedicated lanes are needed, including collecting granular data on quick stops, sharp swerves, sidewalk riding, crashes, fatalities, injuries, and bridge crossings. Require app-based delivery companies to release anonymized data on where their workers are riding.
Incentives for E-Micromobility Adoption
Making it easier for New Yorkers to try out and adopt modes of transportation outside of private car ownership is a critical step to meeting a number of New York City’s goals — including mitigating gridlock, pollution, and emissions; improving the quality of life for New Yorkers and visitors; accelerating bus speeds and growing ridership; and protecting the most vulnerable users of the road. New York City should create financial and infrastructural incentives to the use of e-micromobility.
Construct a Variety of On-Street E-Micromobility Parking: Invest in safe, secure on-street parking, charging, and docking for private and shared e-micromobility outside every subway station. Locate additional short-term parking in busy commercial and dense residential districts, critical for workers making deliveries. Require 25% of all on-street electric mobility charging stations installed in New York City to power e-micromobility rather than or in addition to electric cars, including at least 100 daylighted intersections with e-micromobility charging stations. E-micromobility parking should include on-street space for docking shared e-micromobility as part of the expansion of electric Citi Bike and e-scooter share programs. Create secure on-street overnight parking hangars to provide theft-proof storage with a focus on low-income neighborhoods.
Build Public Charging Infrastructure: Expand public charging infrastructure, like the forthcoming “Street Deliveristas Hubs'' as called for in Intro 0927, to include at least one public charging station in every City Council District. Prioritize investment in and construction of e-micromobility charging infrastructure over privately owned electric car charging to encourage New Yorkers to transition away from driving. Require all New York City-owned buildings, including schools and NYCHA buildings, to provide fire-resistant charging stations on or near their premises.
Incentivize Private Charging Infrastructure: Require all new residential and commercial buildings to include e-micromobility charging. Retrofit existing parking garages to include e-micromobility charging. Incentivize restaurants and ground-floor businesses that employ e-micromobility users to provide short-term parking on the roadbed to discourage sidewalk riding and blocking.
Offer Incentives for E-Micromobility Purchase: Because the safety of any given road user rises or falls based on how many other riders of the same mode are on the streets — a theory known as “safety in numbers'' — incentivizing e-micromobility purchases will directly serve the safety of all e-micromobility users. Incentives could include a voucher-based point-of-sale rebate, federal tax credit, and sales tax exemption to reduce the cost of purchasing a certified e-bike or e-scooter with a new, working battery. Additionally, given the rapid growth of gas-powered mopeds, New York should offer purchase incentives for electric mopeds, which contribute much less to carbon emissions and noise pollution.
Offer Incentives for Residential and Commercial E-Micromobility Storage and Charging: Create a tax incentive program for new or retrofitted buildings that offer residents safe infrastructure for charging and storing e-micromobility, as well as storage for bikes of all kinds. Incentivize all new residential and commercial buildings to include e-micromobility charging, in addition to expanded requirements for bike parking. Retrofit existing parking garages to include e-micromobility charging and parking facilities. While TA supports the removal of mandatory parking minimums for new residential development, while they are in effect, e-micromobility parking should count toward these parking minimums.
Rules and Resources for Safe Use
The most effective and equitable way to overcome the risks associated with e-micromobility — including higher speeds, battery fires, and labor practices that encourage unsafe and unlawful use — is to create rules and resources that encourage or require users to avoid these risks. And, users of all modes must respect traffic laws and the most vulnerable street users: pedestrians. To ensure the safe growth of e-micromobility, New York City should make it easy for individuals to use e-micromobility safely and legally.
Expand Automated Enforcement of Licensed Vehicles: Pass legislation in Albany that allows the City of New York to issue tickets to licensed cars, trucks, and mopeds that block or drive in bike lanes. Automated enforcement is one of the most effective forms of traffic enforcement. With the addition of separated lane space for e-micromobility, it is essential that these lanes are kept clear of unauthorized uses.
Offer Battery Buybacks: Create a buyback system (such as Intro 0949 in the City Council) for damaged, non-compliant, or uncertified lithium-ion batteries, bikes, and chargers. By allowing New Yorkers to safely recycle or exchange uncertified or damaged batteries for cash, or trade in a non-compliant e-bike model for a heavily-discounted certified e-bike, the ongoing fire risk would be mitigated.
Develop Licensing for E-Micromobility Vendors: Develop regulations for the distribution and sale of e-micromobility equipment, including batteries, and require vendors to be licensed by the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. While many mopeds in particular are being operated without license plates or registrations as required by law, this is an issue that can be best addressed by targeting at point of sale. This agency should hold vendors accountable for selling faulty equipment or with illegal titles.
Pass New Housing Standards for E-Micromobility: Create new rules under the guidance of the New York City Fire Department defining safe battery storage and charging for e-micromobility that includes fire suppression and detection of damaged batteries. Fund the FDNY to work with residential and commercial building owners to install safe storage stations.
Charge an E-Micromobility Safety Fee for Delivery App Companies: Pass a law mandating a new fee, similar to the Black Car Fund, to be paid by all delivery app companies for permission to operate in New York City. Collected fees would pay for the cost of incentive programs to promote e-micromobility and encourage safe battery swaps.
Ban Instant Delivery Apps: Pass a law banning “instant” delivery app companies, which operate on a near-impossible business premise and promote unsafe working conditions, from operating in New York City. The “15-minute-or-less” promise directly endangers the lives of delivery workers and all road users by encouraging speeding, wrong-way driving, and other unsafe driving practices.
Enact Delivery Worker Minimum Pay: Implement legislation creating a livable minimum wage for delivery workers and adding a fixed tip to delivery app totals. The low wages, lack of job security, and dangerous working conditions provided by companies that employ e-micromobility users has incentivized unsafe behavior. Creating a per-minute minimum wage encourages workers to prioritize safety without being forced to choose between their livelihood and street safety measures.
Develop a Battery Safety Education Campaign: Educate e-micromobility users, repair workers, and sellers how to safely charge batteries. Such campaigns should be rolled out alongside the construction of safe, secure, and accessible public charging stations. Additional educational materials for homeowners and building managers should be developed, and all materials should be available in multiple languages.
Develop a Safe Street-Use Education Campaign: Educate new e-micromobility users about how and where to operate e-micromobility devices safely and in accordance with all traffic law at the point-of-sale and on streets after new infrastructure is built. Additionally, update the vehicle driver’s education curriculum and road tests to reflect the changing streetscape and a variety of road use types.
Develop a Transit Safety Education Campaign: Educate e-micromobility users and would-be users about how and where they can safely use e-micromobility to complete their transit trips by following the MTA’s new guidelines, including not riding or charging in transit facilities and how to safely board and ride transit with an e-bike or e-scooter.
Safe Disposal of Batteries: Pass legislation requiring the proper and safe disposal of e-micromobility batteries and other rechargeable batteries once they reach the end of their lifespan or are otherwise unusable.
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