Dear New Yorkers,

There are a lot of existential challenges facing our City. But one of the things I hear about the most isn’t just affordable housing or climate change – it’s the rise of e-bikes and mopeds.

Delivery apps have introduced tens of thousands of e-bikes and mopeds to our City’s bustling streetscape at a rapid clip. In the last decade, we’ve grown accustomed to getting exactly what we need delivered to our doorstep within hours or even minutes.

There’s a flip side to that convenience, though. No parent should have to worry about getting hit by mopeds when pushing a stroller onto the sidewalk. A lack of infrastructure and effective regulation makes our streets and sidewalks more dangerous for everyone – pedestrians, drivers, commuters, families.

And conditions are especially dangerous for the hardworking delivery workers who only recently won minimum pay from the greedy app companies. More often than not, it’s delivery workers who are most often impacted by traffic violence. Dozens of delivery workers have been killed.

Make no mistake, the rise of e-bikes and mopeds is a real safety risk. The issue is complex, but nothing we can’t solve as a City.

That is why I was thrilled to join legislators and subject matter experts from across the City at the Center for Justice Innovation’s (CJI) Symposium on Micro-Mobility Safety in NYC last week, co-sponsored by Council Member Gale Brewer and Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal.

For over three decades, CJI has taken a problem-solving justice approach to improving public safety and quality of life in New York City. In 2015, it launched the Driver Accountability Program, which changes driver behavior through education and restorative justice. This program directly informed my 2019 bill as a City Council member, to prevent traffic accidents, called the Reckless Driver Accountability Act.

CJI is well-positioned to tackle this issue thoughtfully with an eye towards protecting our most vulnerable workers and pedestrians. Last week’s symposium was hack-a-thon style event focused on generating actionable ideas to:

• Promote safe riding and ensure enforcement efforts are both equitable and effective
• Reduce traffic conflicts and enhance safety for all through-street safety infrastructure
• Reduce e-bike battery-related fires and ensure the safe adoption and usage of electric vehicles
• Protect workers, prevent exploitation, and ensure workers get the pay and safe working conditions they deserve

This is not the first time New York City streets have undergone a radical transformation and it won’t be the last.

In a 1908 article that was republished in the New York Times, there was great cultural anxiety about the shift away from horse and carriage toward automobiles. The author rightly called out the existential safety risks newfangled automobiles posed in an era that predated traffic lights, street markings, and drivers’ licenses.

Cars continue to be the leading cause of traffic violence above everything else. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore new challenges posed by e-bikes and mopeds.

Look, I don’t have much hope for breaking down the culture war between cyclists and drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, and whatever mode of transportation we think up next. But thought leadership from justice-oriented partners like the Center for Justice Innovation will help ensure the approach we take makes our streets safer for everyone.

Thanks,

Brad