NYC Comptroller Lander Rolls Out Strategic Plan for Street Safety in the Era of Micromobility

NYC Comptroller Lander Rolls Out Strategic Plan for Street Safety in the Era of Micromobility

New York, NY - At a defining moment for New York City's streetscape, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander published Street Safety in the Era of Micromobility, a new report that outlines a strategic regulatory and infrastructure framework for e-bikes, mopeds, and e-scooters, all of which have grown in popularity in recent years and pose new safety and quality of life concerns for New Yorkers.

With the legalization of micromobility vehicles in New York State in 2020, the rapid rise of app-based food delivery companies, and the proliferation of low-cost vehicles and batteries, tens of thousands of New Yorkers have embraced micromobility options as an affordable and low-carbon way to get around. However, New York City's regulatory regime, enforcement efforts, and infrastructure have failed to keep pace with the influx of these vehicles.

The Comptroller's report lays out a comprehensive and strategic approach to create more predictability on city streets and ensure fast-moving two-wheeled vehicles operate safely and legally. The plan calls for cutting off the supply of unsafe and illegal vehicles, establishing a City-administered licensing program for app-delivery companies, and enhancing accountability for riders who violate traffic laws through more predictable, consistent enforcement. People with disabilities, seniors, safe streets advocates, and delivery workers-the kind of broad coalition necessary to bring about a shift in rules, culture, and behavior-hailed the Comptroller's plan.

"Every day I hear a common concern from New Yorkers across communities: the proliferation of mopeds and e-bikes has fueled a sense of disorder and lawlessness in our city and heightened anxiety about street safety," said Comptroller Brad Lander. "Pedestrians shouldn't feel on edge every time they step outside their apartment. At the same time, we can't put the genie back in the bottle; many New Yorkers have come to rely on these affordable and environmentally sustainable modes of transportation. By cutting-off illegal vehicle supply at point-of-sale, holding app-delivery companies accountable, and making enforcement more consistent and strategic, we can make sure all New Yorkers feel safe and comfortable on our streets, whatever modes of transportation they use."

Micromobility Management Challenges: The sharp rise in popularity of micromobility-combined with a void in proactive management-contributes to a sense of chaos, disorder, and lawlessness on city streets. Existing strategies to enforce traffic laws are not effectively deterring dangerous or illegal behavior among riders; enforcement and oversight responsibilities are dispersed across multiple levels of government and agencies; and infrastructure and street design have not kept pace with the growing number of e-bikes, mopeds, and e-scooters.

The rise of the mobile app-based food delivery industry has fueled reliance on e-bikes and mopeds among a large population of low-wage, precarious workers, with no accountability for the app companies profiting from those trips.

Low-cost, unsafe products have flooded the e-bike and battery market in recent years due to low standards for imported goods and the high cost of legal, safe alternatives. Despite improvements in regulatory efforts to address the safety of e-bike batteries, battery fires in residential buildings persist, killing four people and injuring 88 others in the first ten months of 2024.

Street Safety: The Comptroller's report found that, compared to four-wheeled vehicles, micromobility vehicles account for a very small share of pedestrian deaths and injuries: 1.8% of all pedestrian fatalities between 2020 to 2023, or eight out of 449; and roughly 4.5% of all pedestrian injuries, or 1,276 out of 28,450. Moreover, the safety risks of e-bikes, e-scooters, and mopeds are most acute for the riders of these vehicles versus pedestrians or other road users. Nonetheless, pedestrian injuries attributable to micromobility vehicles have seen a significant uptick from virtually none in 2020, when New York State legalized e-bikes.

Recommendations: The challenges associated with the influx of micromobility vehicles on New York City streets touch upon numerous supply-side, traffic enforcement, labor exploitation, and infrastructure issues and cannot be solved with a single solution. Managing these issues is a complex task that requires coordination between different government agencies, all three levels of government, and the private sector. The Comptroller's report makes the following recommendations to improve safety and quality of life in a strategic and just manner:

1. Cut off the supply of unsafe, illegal vehicles in New York City and beyond through strategic supply-side enforcement actions by the City, State, and Federal governments.

1. Create a City-administered licensing program that regulates app-based delivery companies featuring safe operation accountability protocols, a sizable disposal fee/penalty for illegal mopeds seized while operating on a trip for the app, and stronger worker protections.

1. Require restaurants to certify that the delivery workers they directly employ are using safe, street-legal equipment, and hold those restaurants accountable if workers are using illegal equipment.

1. Curb reckless driving and enhance accountability for moped riders who violate traffic laws through more predictable, consistent, and strategic enforcement. Enforcement should target the most high-risk behaviors (e.g. driving on sidewalks and in bike lanes, forging licenses, obscuring license plates, and operating illegal vehicles).

1. Invest in high-quality infrastructure, street design, and curb management solutions to support the safe integration of micromobility into New York City streets, including wider protected bike lanes, traffic calming, e-bike parking, and neighborhood loading zones.

1. Ensure and expand the use of safe, affordable e-bikes and batteries by increasing funding for a battery swap program established in Fall 2023 by Local Law 131 and passing state legislation to establish a ride clean rebate program for e-bikes and e-scooters.

1. Expand safe, convenient e-bike charging facilities to support widespread adoption of UL-certified equipment by investing in additional safe charging sites via expansion of the City's E-Bike Battery Charging Pilot, as well as prioritizing the installation of on-street e-bike charging stations in the outer boroughs, where many delivery workers reside.

1. Create a program to provide guidance on the process of obtaining a driver's license and registering mopeds, directed at delivery workers and low-income New Yorkers.

1. Collect and publicly report accurate, detailed data about crashes, injuries, fatalities, violations, and illegal vehicle seizures involving e-bikes, stand-up scooters, mopeds, and other vehicles.

"Government is still playing catchup to the boom in micromobility technology," said Council Member Gale A. Brewer. "This report outlines the remaining gaps-in regulation and enforcement of these devices-that still need closing to improve safety and quality of life for all."

"Unregistered mopeds and illegally modified e-bikes are zipping across our public pedestrian spaces, resulting in frequent tragic accidents and endangering our communities. Parents are afraid to walk their children to school and seniors are afraid to enjoy public plazas. My community and I have been raising these concerns with the Department of Transportation and NYPD for over two years, yet we continue to build on flawed infrastructure. It's time to take action to ensure our streets and open spaces are safe havens for people, not highways for moped drivers. We hope that with these proposed regulations we will begin to see safer streets, and thank the Comptroller for taking this matter seriously," said Council Member Shekar Krishnan, District 25, representing Jackson Heights and Elmhurst.

"Disabled New Yorkers - and everyone else - deserve safe sidewalks and crosswalks, but e-bikes, e-scooters and mopeds make the streets a dangerous, unpredictable obstacle course," said Elizabeth Valdez, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled. "Comptroller Lander's proposals would allow the City to finally confront these challenges head-on and make our streets safer for all."

"The Workers' Justice Project and Los Deliveristas Unidos commend NYC Comptroller Brad Lander's report for its comprehensive recommendations on managing and delivering a new era of micromobility by addressing the root causes of the current crisis," said Ligia Guallpa, Executive Director of Worker's Justice Project. "The report details local, state, and federal recommendations focused on tackling supply-chain challenges, upgrading infrastructure, and implementing community-driven interventions to ensure safer streets in NYC, protect the essential workers who sustain our economy, and advance a new era of safer micromobility."

"Disabled In Action of Metropolitan NY supports the efforts of Comptroller Lander to regulate the use of ebikes, mopeds and scooters to make our streets and sidewalks safer and prevent injuries to seniors, blind people and people with mobility disabilities. We are in fear of getting seriously injured just going to the grocery store," said Jean Ryan, President, Disabled in Action of Metropolitan New York.

"E-bikes are transforming how New Yorkers navigate our streets - providing convenient and sustainable ways for families, workers, and people with mobility limitations to get around our city," said Elizabeth Adams, interim co-executive director of Transportation Alternatives. "We've called for an infrastructure-first approach that protects the most vulnerable people on our streets, while holding app delivery companies accountable to street safety, and we applaud Comptroller Lander for advancing a comprehensive set recommendations that recognizes the fights for worker justice, safe streets, mobility justice, and a greener city are all connected. We look forward to working with the Comptroller on systemic solutions to encourage the safe growth of e-micromobility - not stymie it."

"The Center for Justice Innovation has been proud to partner with Comptroller Lander to develop, implement, and scale up creative and equitable approaches to street safety. At the Center, we believe that the best solutions are developed collaboratively with government, stakeholders, and communities, centering equity, justice and safety," said Amanda Berman, Esq. Senior Director, Regional Programs, Center for Justice Innovation. "That is why our Midtown Community Justice Center back in March convened Reimagining Micro-Mobility Safety in NYC, a symposium to address the rapid proliferation of delivery riding on our streets. The event yielded impactful, achievable measures, many of which are included in the Comptroller's report. We applaud the Comptroller for his commitment to bringing these issues to the forefront and look forward to helping make our streets safer for all,"

"There's no doubt that the micromobility boom has impacted our streets; what's needed now is a level-headed strategy to ensure that this valuable transportation mode is positively integrated into our city. Holding delivery companies and retailers responsible will address many issues at the source; and the City, too, must be responsible for providing the adequate infrastructure to ensure all users can safely share the road. This report dispenses with rhetoric and gets down to brass tacks, making sensible recommendations that will allow New York City to reap all the benefits of convenient, accessible, sustainable e-micromobility," said Sara Lind, Co-Executive Director at Open Plans.

"Two things can be true: we can promote micromobility of all kinds, including electric, and improve safety for all New Yorkers," said Julia D. Day, Team Director and Partner at Gehl. "Comptroller Lander's report positions NYC as a leader in making streets great, dignified places. We've called for an in-depth mobility ethnography that focuses on e-bike super users - delivery workers - as well as all New Yorkers using electric micromobility. This work will gather citywide data on these users' experience and needs, to inform infrastructure interventions that shape safer, more convenient streets for all. This could include proposed locations and design improvements for people using micromobility, designated street space for New Yorkers not traveling in an automobile, traffic calming measures, and access and connectivity improvements. We look forward to working with the Comptroller and NYC's mobility leaders to use a people-first approach to adapting NYC's ever-evolving streetscape for electric micromobility and transportation equity."

"Comptroller Lander's report on micromobility devices outlines a comprehensive, common-sense approach that New York City would be wise to adopt. As the report rightly notes, the city hasn't kept pace with the boom in adoption of electric bikes and scooters, and we need a forward-looking effort that can both improve safety and protect the workers who keep the city's economy humming. We look forward to working with the Comptroller's office to help advance these important initiatives," said Eric McClure, Executive Director, StreetsPAC.

"Traffic safety in New York City suffers from a policy vacuum today, despite high levels of crashes and fatalities and significant changes in how streets are used. Bike New York thanks Comptroller Brad Lander for working to remedy this serious problem with a solid set of street design, regulatory and enforcement proposals," said Jon Orcutt, Director of Advocacy for Bike New York.

Read the report, Street Safety in the Era of Micromobility, here.

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