The Zen of E-Bike

For the past thee years, there has been an effort to legalize E-bikes of Class 1, 2 and 3 across all of New York State.  [Reminder: Class 1=20mph pedal assist, class 2 = 20mph with throttle, class 3 = 20mph with throttle, up to 28mph pedal assist.]  These efforts failed, in large part due to concerns by residents and officials in New York City --- where currently, class 2 e-bikes are widely used by delivery workers, but there is a lot of friction over the issue. This year, New York Bicycle Coalition is pursuing a Class 1 only strategy, which would legalize only pedal-assist e-bikes statewide.  To some who might have hoped for legislation legalizing class 2 and 3 e-bikes a well, this might seem like somewhat of a let-down.  However, I have come to believe the loss of class 2 and 3 is no more than a minor inconvenience, if that. Why Not Class 2 The simple reason is because there is public perception and political pressure against throttles.  This may be due...

Apparently, class 1 (pedal assist) e-bikes are legal in New York City, but not in New York State.  This hinges on a few accidents of history: NY State Law happens to ban all e-bikes, whereas NYC law only bans class 2 and 3 e-bikes.  None of this was intentional, since both sets of laws were written before the advent of e-bikes. NYC traffic law supercedes NY State traffic law in this case: State laws and regulations on vehicle and roadway usage typically trump conflicting local laws, except in New York City, where the New York City Council has been given much authority to promulgate laws and regulations on the use of the City’s public roadways. http://www.citylandnyc.org/scooters-hoverboards-bicycles-whats-legal/ I have written elsewhere on this blog about how New York City laws.  Here, I will summarize NY State laws, which apply everywhere outside of New York City. In 1981 chapter 160, New York State amended Section 121-b of the vehicle and traffic law was ame...

E-Bike Legal Issues Myth:  "New York City bans E-Bikes" Fact:  New York City law does not define "e-bike."  It does ban "motorized scooters," which it defines as: For purposes of this section, the term “motorized scooter” shall mean any wheeled device that has handlebars that is designed to be stood or sat upon by the operator, is powered by an electric motor or by a gasoline motor that is capable of propelling the device without human power and is not capable of being registered with the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. Class 1 e-Bikes do not fit the definition of "motorized scooter," and therefore are not banned in New York City.  Class 2 and 3 e-bikes do count as "motorized scooters," and there fore are banned. Myth:   " The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles does not register electric bicycles, therefore their operation is prohibited in New York City." Fact:  Where do I start with this one... ...

Today, I attended the E-Bike Rally on the steps of New York City Hall, in support of e-bike delivery workers.  Quite a success, over 100 delivery workers!  I'll post links to it here.  In the meantime, here is the speech I was asked to give: Hello, my name is Elizabeth; and for the past 7 years, I have relied on my e-bike to get me where I need to go every day. Before that, I rode manual bikes.  But they were not up to the task of raising my 2-year-old child in Jersey City.  I remember going grocery shopping on my sturdy touring bike --- and feeling the frame creak and flex under the weight.  How was I also going to do this every day, with a toddler to boot?  I needed something more substantial; but didn't want to waste money on a car, just to bang around Jersey City.  Anyway, where would I park it? I had read about the rise of e-bikes in the New York times, and I was intruiged.  So I took the plunge and bought one --- the same Chines...

Here is a brief history of New York City legislation regarding e-bikes.  Note that the main law in force, and now used repeatedly with respect to commercial e-bikes, was passed for an entirely different purpose . Note on how laws are made: In NYC, a Local Law  is an individual bill that gets passed (or not).  These laws serve to amend  the NYC Administrative Code, which is the current up-to-date version of NYC law, as created by a history of local laws. 2003: Proposal to Ban Motorized Scooters The main impetus of this bill (see text and discussion) was to ban dangerous "pocket scooters", being used by children, and going up to 40mph.  These were gasoline-powered motorcycles and had nothing to do with restaurant delivery, e-bikes or commercial cyclists.  At that time, no one in NYC had barely even heard of an e-bike. This bill failed in 2003. http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=440463&GUID=0E8F55C8-C8DF-4B0A-8104-766AE5848...