NY Forms Department to Regulate E Bkes
The New York City Council has taken up consideration of a bill that would regulate e-bikes. This bill wouldn’t regulate all e-bikes, though. It’s meant to take on the e-bikes used by food delivery apps like GrubHub, DoorDash and Uber Eats.
Mayor Eric Adams has already announced his support for the bill. According to Margaret Forgione, first deputy commissioner of the Transportation Department, the Adams administration supports the bill. The administration has signaled that the goal is to create an e-bike trade-in program that would be funded by the apps.
New York has taken action because the number of fires caused by e-mobility devices and defective or repaired batteries has been on the rise. In 2023 there were 268 fires in the city that resulted in 150 injuries and 18 deaths.
Of course, the delivery companies are fighting the bill. Uber’s senior policy manager, Hayley Prim, said that the effort should be placed on ebike sellers, rather than requiring the apps to supply reliable e-bikes. In testimony Prim said, “We encourage the Council to table these bills.”
DoorDash suggested that such a bill could cause the apps to terminate delivery by e-bike. Such bluster is impractical in a city where e-bikes can often outpace cars over short distances.
Conditions continue to improve for delivery workers. In December, the state court ruled that delivery workers must be paid a minimum of $17.96 per hour by delivery app companies.
The post NY Forms Department to Regulate E-Bikes first appeared on Electric Bike Report | Electric Bike, Ebikes, Electric Bicycles, E Bike, Reviews.
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