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

 

The increase of micromobility devices – e-bikes, mopeds, and e-scooters – demands action to improve safety and quality of life on New York City streets

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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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).

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

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