There’s no backpedaling with electric bicycles, a.k.a e-bikes, as both an emergent technology and reliable mode of transportation. But New York City is no longer freewheeling on the issue due to fire and commuter safety concerns.
According to Juan Restrepo, director of organizing for Nonprofit Transportation Alternatives, e-bikes continue to break into neighborhoods of color throughout the Big Apple, thanks to the expansion of bike share services like Citi Bike—which boasts roughly 4,000 powered devices in its fleet—into the outer boroughs.
“As a transportation option, it is an incredible tool. Something that gets undersold is how much accessibility it creates,” said Restrepo. “Over a course of a lifetime, we develop worse knees [and] backs. E-bikes, through the electrical assist that they provide in your pedal strokes, can put people back [in] the saddle who normally wouldn’t be able to ride a bike. We’re thinking about New York City’s goals in terms of transportation to reduce emissions for CO2, and e-bikes provide an incredible ability to do that.
“If we think about it from a worker’s perspective, a large part of this conversation has centered around delivery workers who are one of the primary user groups of this tool.”
On the other hand, FDNY Chief Marshal Daniel Flynn said the department noticed a higher volume of responses to lithium-ion battery-related fires in 2021, primarily in “powered mobility devices” like e-bikes and scooters. He said electric cars have not posed as much of a concern. Back then, the FDNY tallied 104 lithium-ion battery-related fires responsible for six deaths. This year, more than 200 fires stemmed from lithium-ion batteries and have killed at least 14 people so far.
Some fires occur inside homes, sparked by the combo of faulty batteries and a lack of safe exterior storage. A majority of lithium-ion battery fire deaths this year are from smoke inhalation, not burns.
“In an ideal world, we’d be able to store these in a shed or something far from our home,” said Flynn. “In New York City, there’s not many of us that have that luxury…to store them outside, charge them outside, and be comfortable with them being outside.”
Flynn was quick to point out that e-bikes are not exclusively used by app-based delivery gig workers—other New Yorkers use them for commuting and recreation. But Restrepo said there are concerns about these gig workers being targeted as victims of theft due to immigration status. They also often pay out of pocket for their devices—for lower-wage workers, risks of faulty batteries align with purchasing cheaper, unrelated devices.
Restrepo pointed to a general bike parking pilot project last year as a potential solution—the Department of Transportation implemented pods from Black and brown New Yorker-owned company Oonee, which fully encase cycles inside a pod to prevent theft.
Beyond anxieties over losing their meal ticket, gig workers also face on-the-job risks.
“When we talk about the youth working these jobs, they’re oftentimes having to do everything possible to do [deliveries] quickly,” said Restrepo, who is a former delivery worker. “That can sometimes create an unsafe condition for pedestrians [and] other cyclists on the road, but most importantly, a danger for themselves…Oftentimes you have to go against traffic or you have to flout certain common safety rules like obeying red lights, just to get your job done as quickly as possible so you can do the next one.”
A City Council bill passed overwhelmingly last month establishing a program for New Yorkers to trade in fire-hazardous or illegal lithium-ion powered devices like e-bikes in exchange for their compliant counterparts at reduced to no cost.
“It provides a clear, immediate pathway to get thousands of unsafe batteries out of our homes and off our streets. While we must continue to explore long-term solutions, this is a huge step forward for public safety,” said sponsoring councilmember Keith Powers in a statement.
A police spokesperson (no pun intended) told the Amsterdam News that the NYPD does not track e-bike theft “to that level of specificity” and pointed to motorcycle/scooter theft prevention tips.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.