Make E-Bikes and Bike Share Safe & Accessible
E-bikes offer an affordable and sustainable transportation choice to New Yorkers with mobility needs, senior citizens, parents of young children, and commercial cyclists who ride for work. Bike share can fill critical gaps in the transportation network, and make cycling accessible to people with limited storage space at home. In 2024, New Yorkers took more than 44 million trips on Citi Bikes, half of which were on e-bikes. People who use e-bikes and bike share need supportive infrastructure and policies that promote safety. Transportation Alternatives is fighting to:
Build higher quality infrastructure that supports safe operation of e-bikes like extra-wide bike lanes to keep bikes off the sidewalk and public charging stations to keep e-bike batteries out of apartment buildings
Regulate delivery app companies and professionalize delivery work to ensure that the corporations that profit from the delivery industry are held accountable for the safety of their workers and New Yorkers on the sidewalks and bike lanes
Oppose bike licensing, an expensive and ineffective policy that will increase police stops of people on bikes without making our streets safer for anyone
Expand bike share citywide, and expand public funding as necessary
Making e-bikes and bike share safe and accessible…
…makes biking an option for more people.
One in five people who ride an e-bike is a senior, one in four has a physical limitation that makes riding a standard bike difficult or impossible, and half of women report an e-bike would help them get around. For New Yorkers living far from transit, e-bikes are a critical option and commuter connector.
…makes our streets safer for everyone.
Protected bike lanes reduce sidewalk riding and keep bikes in the street; on Prospect Park West, turning a car lane into a two-way parking-protected bike lane reduced sidewalk riding by 93%.
…protects those who make their living on e-bikes.
Delivery work is the most dangerous occupation in New York City, five times more deadly than construction work, which has historically been the most dangerous. In just three years, 33 delivery workers lost their lives on our streets, and 29% of delivery workers report having been badly injured while working.
