NYC Council Schedules Hearing on E-Bike and E-Scooter Safety

What happened

The New York City Council announced a comprehensive hearing on e-bike and e-scooter safety for September 30. The proceeding is intended to examine the City’s enforcement of laws already on the books while considering potential legislative responses.

Speaker Julie Menin will lead the hearing alongside Majority Leader Shaun Abreu, chair of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Council Member Harvey Epstein, chair of the Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection; and Council Member Oswald Feliz, chair of the Committee on Public Safety. The Council said it will hear from city agencies, transportation and public-safety experts, advocates, workers, and members of the public.

The Council framed the hearing as a response to growing concerns about illegal, high-speed e-bikes and e-scooters, as well as recent crashes affecting pedestrians, riders, and other New Yorkers. It described the proceeding as part of a broader investigative effort to engage affected stakeholders and identify legislative options intended to improve safety on city streets.

The key details

The Council said e-bike-related collisions have risen and cited recent incidents involving an illegal high-speed e-scooter on the Queensboro Bridge and an e-bike rider traveling the wrong way in Central Park. According to the Council, those incidents resulted in fatalities and serious injury.

The initial legislative list includes a proposal from Council Member Lynn Schulman that would require services facilitating or arranging goods deliveries in the city to obtain a business license from the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. The Council said the licensing framework would give the City additional oversight and enforcement tools concerning those companies’ compliance with applicable laws.

A measure sponsored by Council Member Crystal Hudson would prohibit the sale and rental of class three electric-assist bicycles and establish civil penalties. Other listed bills would create a task force to examine safer street design and infrastructure; require third-party apps to provide data such as driver identification, delivery timing, and location information; and expand commercial bicycle-safety laws to encompass commercially used bicycles, e-bikes, mopeds, and motorcycles.

The Council is also considering a proposal requiring the NYPD to publicly report on targeted traffic enforcement. The reporting would cover enforcement locations, the reasons they were selected, violations issued—including e-bike and e-scooter violations—and comparisons of safety effects with similar periods without targeted enforcement.

Additional measures on the list address verification that delivery workers’ mopeds are properly registered, increased penalties for leaving a crash scene on an e-scooter while adding e-bikes, and educational materials concerning moped operation. The Council said bills expected in coming weeks may also concern delivery-app insurance requirements, trade-in incentives for unsafe devices, consumer protections, expanded enforcement, and infrastructure intended to slow high-speed riding.

Why it matters

The Council’s review combines questions about devices and roadway safety with oversight of delivery platforms and commercial delivery activity. Some proposals focus on companies that facilitate deliveries or set the conditions under which deliveries are made. Others address sales and rentals, vehicle registration, information supplied by apps, enforcement reporting, and street design.

The hearing’s stated participant list also places delivery workers, riders, pedestrians, advocates, city agencies, and transportation and public-safety specialists in the same policy process. The Council has said its aim is to consider safety measures while examining how existing rules are enforced.

What to watch

The September 30 hearing may clarify the views of agencies, workers, advocates, platform companies, and members of the public on the proposals. It may also provide further detail on the Council’s assessment of enforcement under existing laws.

The Council characterized the named measures as an initial, nonexclusive list and said additional bills are expected before the hearing. The announcement concerns proposed legislation and oversight, and does not state that the listed requirements or penalties are currently in effect.