Some of the information in this story was published in the July issue of BRAIN.
NEW YORK (BRAIN) — The 2026 city budget approved last week includes creating the Department of Sustainable Delivery within the Department of Transportation to regulate e-bikes and comes a few weeks after Mayor Eric Adams said he is implementing a new 15 mph speed limit for e-bikes and e-scooters. If enacted officially through City Council approval, the change is expected to hurt e-bike sales in the city as the most popular e-bikes sold there are Class 1 and 2 models that provide motor assist up to 20 mph.
The $115.9 billion budget will make the city "a safer, more affordable city that is the best place to raise a family," according to city hall, and includes creating 60 positions and investing $6.1 million for regulation and enforcement for the e-bike department.
Adams asked the City Council to create the department over a year ago that would require a commercial e-bike delivery license "to strengthen delivery worker, battery, and traffic safety." The City Council has not held a public hearing on it yet. Adams said the department would consolidate work that's been done across multiple agencies.
The city has been busy proposing and enacting legislation in reaction to curtailing lithium-ion battery fires and sidewalk and street incidents with pedestrians and micromobility devices. In response to Adams' request, Citi Bike, New York City's largest bike-share system with more than 25,000 bikes — about 15,000 of which are electric — is capping its pedal-assist speeds at 15 mph, said Citi Bike General Manager Patrick Knoth in an email to BRAIN. He did not elaborate how that would be done.
In his announcement June 4, Adams wrote, "I have heard, over and over again, from New Yorkers about how their safety — and the safety of their children — has been put at risk due to speeding e-bikes and e-scooters, and today, our administration is saying enough is enough: We are implementing a new 15-mile-per-hour speed limit for e-bikes and e-scooters that will make our streets safer. We're proud of the work we've done to expand biking across the five boroughs, but we have an obligation to keep everyone safe. We are also calling on our partners in the City Council to pass our long-proposed legislation that will strengthen delivery worker safety — it's time to protect delivery workers and all New Yorkers, once and for all."
Adams cited “Sammy’s Law,” which allows the city to reduce speed limits on local streets to benefit pedestrian safety, for his unilateral decision.
City Council would like to have a word
In a June 9 post on X, the City Council wrote that Adams is overstepping his authority and hasn’t discussed reducing the e-bike speed limit with its members.
“The mayor has repeatedly failed to demonstrate an understanding of the city's lawmaking process, which has made him ineffective. We remain in discussions with constructive members of the mayoral administration to advance solutions on e-bike safety and sustainable delivery.”
“The first thing everyone should know is that there is no 15-mile-per-hour speed limit for e-bikes in New York City,” said PeopleForBikes policy counsel Matt Moore. “This is just a proposal put forward by Mayor Adams. Under New York Vehicle Code § 1642, only the ‘legislative body’ of New York City can change a city speed limit. That means the New York City Council would have to pass an ordinance to enact an e-bike speed limit.”
Adams said a lower speed limit would alleviate growing concerns with e-bikes and e-scooters affecting the public safety in shared spaces, including bike lanes and parks. In late May in Brooklyn, a 3-year-old girl was struck by an e-bike rider and suffered minor injuries. Adams said the 15 mph speed limit would align with the European Union, where its pedelecs (pedal-assist) have a top assisted speed of 25 kph (about 15.5 mph).
Retailers in the New York City area contacted by BRAIN in June said the 15 mph speed limit is shortsighted and would affect e-bike sales.
“This regulation would be incredibly disruptive,” said Cat Strain, CEO of Propel Bikes, which has a location in Brooklyn. “Nearly every e-bike we sell is built to assist up to 20 mph, consistent with the nationally adopted three-class system. A 15 mph cap would effectively eliminate the entire product line we offer in New York City. It would also reduce the usefulness of e-bikes for the vast majority of our customers — about 90% of whom rely on them as their primary mode of transportation. A change like this risks stalling progress in making New York a leader in safe, sustainable urban mobility.”
Bicycles NYC Manager Sam Richardson said Adams has a history of treating e-bikes dismissively, calling them “little bicycles.”
“Mayor Adams is solving the wrong problem with the wrong solution,” Richardson said. “Proposing a 15 mph cap ignores both reality and equity. Any normal bike can reach 15 mph. Cyclists cause less than 1% of traffic collisions in New York City. This policy won’t improve safety — it’ll just criminalize delivery workers, stigmatize parents riding cargo bikes, older New Yorkers using e-bikes for mobility, and everyday commuters trying to ditch their cars. It attaches a negative narrative to the very people leading the shift toward cleaner, safer streets. We absolutely expect it to hurt e-bike sales. And for independent bike shops already operating in a hostile climate, it’s yet another hit we don’t need.”
Enforcement questions
Albert Cabbad, CEO of R&A Cycles with locations in Brooklyn and Walnut Creek, California, said he doubts that a 15 mph speed limit realistically could be enforced. He also said a speed limit wouldn’t affect his sales because he sells mostly e-MTBs.
“I simply don’t think it is possible,” Cabbad said. “My riders using the bikes we sell are not riding as much in the city as they are outside, since they are more recreational riders and not commuters. I think New York City should focus less on restrictions, which are less about safety, and more about adding a fee or penalty of some sort. A typical rider can easily ride without a motor over 15 mph. So the rule has no basis.”
And it will face an uphill battle when the City Council weighs in, Moore said.
“PeopleForBikes thinks the proposed 15 mph speed limit for e-bikes has a battery that simply is not going to take a charge,” Moore said. “A better approach to lowering operating speeds would be for New York to amend its ill-conceived and unique definition of a Class 3 electric bicycle, which allows use of a throttle up to 25 miles per hour, and instead use the pedal-assist definition used in 43 other states.”
Lower auto speeds?
Bill Nesper, League of American Bicyclists executive director, said, if anything, Adams should lower automobile speed limits to 20 mph, matching Class 1 and 2 e-bike speeds.
“Drivers of motor vehicles are the people responsible for more than 100 people walking and biking being killed in New York City each year,” Nesper said. “If any vehicles and their drivers should be slowed down, it’s people driving cars and trucks. People who use micromobility devices do not cause anywhere near the harm of drivers of cars and trucks. Any serious effort to improve traffic safety has to include the people who are causing the most crashes, injuries, and deaths, which this action does not do.”
