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NYC Council Announces 17-Bill Drive and Sept. 30 Hearing to Tighten E-Bike and E-Scooter Rules

The package seeks to stop illegal high-speed e-bikes by increasing oversight of delivery platforms, requiring apps to share trip data, pressuring Albany to consider statewide licensing.

Overview

  • City Council leaders on Tuesday unveiled a 17-bill legislative package and scheduled a Sept. 30 oversight hearing to review e-bike and e-scooter safety and enforcement.
  • Proposals under consideration include requiring delivery apps to register with the city, banning sale or rental of certain high-speed models, mandating granular driver and trip data from platforms, expanding penalties, and testing or trade-in programs for illegal devices.
  • City and police data cited by officials show collisions involving e-bikes and e-scooters rose about 28 percent year-over-year through the third week of July with 560 e-bike crashes and 795 e-scooter crashes, and recent deadly incidents including the July 29 death of a 17-year-old have driven the push.
  • Speaker Julie Menin urged state lawmakers to consider a New Jersey-style registration or licensing approach because the city lacks DMV authority, while delivery-worker advocates warn that registration rules could increase policing and disproportionately affect Black, brown, and immigrant workers.
  • Next steps include the Sept. 30 hearing where DOT, NYPD, and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection are expected to testify and where lawmakers will weigh enforcement-first options favored by the mayor against broader rules that could reshape app oversight and worker obligations.