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Slow government is enabling speedy mopeds in NYC neighborhoods

By

Matt Katz

Published Jun 13, 2024

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In June 2023, Senate Majority Leader Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Mayor Adams announced a $25 million “emergency” grant to combat battery fires by opening safe charging stations at NYCHA developments around the city. The money has not yet been spent.

 

NYC Mayor's office

By

Matt Katz

Published Jun 13, 2024

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One reason New Yorkers are seeing and complaining about more mopeds zooming down city streets is governmental sluggishness in making the moped’s slower, greener cousin — the e-bike — easier and safer to use, according to delivery workers and experts.

E-bikes took off during the pandemic as the go-to choice for app delivery workers bringing meals to New Yorkers. On the streets, they're considered safer than mopeds, maxing out at 25 mph. But their removable batteries have become the fastest-growing cause of deadly fires in the city and a dearth of safe battery charging options has made them a less palatable option for delivery work.

Over the last two years, politicians have announced several initiatives to get safer e-bike batteries to delivery workers. But those programs have not been implemented as quickly as promised. Meanwhile, another type of vehicle with a different set of safety concerns has become many delivery workers' vehicle of choice: gas-powered mopeds.

Mopeds, which look like small motorcycles, are often cheaper than e-bikes and go as fast as 45 mph. Unlike e-bike riders, moped riders are required to have licenses and registration and are forbidden from bike lanes. But officials say mopeds pose a danger to both pedestrians and cyclists as they are often illegally operated and have become suddenly ubiquitous. That's resulted in what some describe as a “crisis” of injury and death on city streets.

And yet it is easier to fill up a moped with gas than find a place to charge an e-bike and continue making deliveries, several delivery workers told Gothamist. The FDNY has also cracked down on e-bike shops where uncertified batteries were sold and charged, and some landlords have banned indoor e-bike storage, so delivery workers now have few places to safely charge e-bikes.

Here’s the status of several government initiatives to increase access to safe batteries for e-bikes:

“Deliveristas have to charge their batteries a lot throughout the day, and if there’s nowhere for them to safely charge them … it makes sense for them to get a gas-powered moped,” said Sara Lind, co-executive director of the nonprofit Open Plans, which advocates for safer streets. “Whereas if we were helping them with charging stations and battery swap, they could very easily do their very long days on e-bikes. These are working people making rational decisions based on the options presented to them.”

Since 2022, 25 New Yorkers have been killed in fires started by exploding lithium-ion e-bike batteries, according to the FDNY. Most of the deaths were due to uncertified batteries charging in residential buildings, officials said.

A promise to construct outdoor charging stations across the city has largely not been realized. In June 2023, Mayor Eric Adams and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced $25 million in federal funds to install charging stations for e-bikes at public housing developments throughout the five boroughs, but a year later, none have been built, and the government agencies contacted for this story did not say when that might happen.

“In the city, there are things that move quickly and others are very difficult,” said Gustavo Ajche, a delivery worker and activist who founded advocacy group Los Deliveristas Unidos. “The charging stations are something that is taking a long time, and the fires continue to happen.”

The city has yet to set up a program created by local lawmakers last September that's meant to swap fire-prone batteries for safe ones. A promised government office called the Department of Sustainable Delivery also hasn't opened. A spokesperson for Adams didn’t answer questions about the delays.

City officials also want to turn unused newsstands into charging hubs. But in the face of neighborhood opposition, none are expected to open this year.

Injuries from motorized two-wheeler crashes rose 350% from 2017 to 2023, according to the city Department of Transportation. The NYPD said moped riders are flouting laws requiring them to be licensed, have their vehicles registered and stay out of bike lanes. Police also said illegally used mopeds and other motorized vehicles like ATVs have been used to commit crimes. The NYPD has confiscated a record 42,000 such vehicles since 2022, according to the department.

“It’s hard to understand why [e-bike battery charging infrastructure] isn’t one of the urgent properties, considering [batteries] are a leading cause of fire in New York City,” said Melinda Hanson of the Equitable Commute Project, which spearheaded its own battery trade-in program that was funded by delivery app companies.

The city successfully launched a $950,000 pilot program allowing 100 delivery workers to swap out depleted batteries for fully charged ones at five different sites. But even if the municipal bureaucracy is on board, there are other hurdles, according to advocates. The plan to turn unused newsstands into bike charging hubs has been bogged down by objections from local community boards.

Ligia Guallpa, who heads the Workers Justice Project and has advocated for such hubs for two-and-a-half years, said she's hopeful that the first one will open at City Hall Park by early 2025. It is currently in environmental review.

Guallpa said policymakers have been proactive but creating new infrastructure for an emerging technology takes time.

“Building something new that has never existed in one of the biggest cities in the world is not going to be an easy task,” she said. Companies that make e-bike technology have to be part of the solution, as do the food apps that employ the delivery workers, she added.

“We’re hoping to see charging stations at every corner of our city, and we hope that city agencies continue to be part of this,” said Guallpa. “Do we wish that it could be faster? Absolutely.”

Tagged

fdny

new york city

public safety

mopeds

economy

ebikes

transportation

Matt Katz

Matt Katz is a former WNYC & Gothamist reporter.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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