Citi e-bikes gone ’til fall

As lawmakers in Albany gear up for a last-minute push to pass legislation legalizing electric bikes and scooters before session wraps up next month, e-bike fanatics in New York City received some bad news: Citi Bike’s fleet of pedal-assist e-bikes – which are legal in New York City – won’t return to the streets until the fall.

Last month, Citi pulled its e-bikes from New York City, as were others from Washington, D.C., and the San Francisco Bay area after a series of riders were injured by a braking malfunction on the vehicles. Motivate, the Lyft-owned company that operates Citi Bikes, characterized the move as an abundantly cautious one. Nonetheless, the company’s pedal-assist fleet had grown so popular in New York that the company announced plans to expand its e-bikes to 4,000 earlier this year. Those hoping for a hot summer commute eased by an extra boost on a pedal-assist bike will have to wait at least five months, when Citi plans to introduce a redesigned fleet.

Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is making no secret of his disdain for the currently illegal throttle e-bikes – at least as they operate now. “We are trying to work with the state Legislature that has the jurisdiction on this, to figure out if there is a law that could legalize them appropriately, put limits on how they’re used, lower the speed at which they can go – there is a physical way to modify the speed and, if we can figure out how to do that for existing e-bikes and help e-bike owners to do that, I’d be very willing to figure out a way to,” de Blasio said during an appearance on WNYC Radio’s “Brian Lehrer Show.” “But the current situation is unacceptable and is dangerous.”

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