TESTIMONY TO THE NYC CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Good afternoon Chair Brooks-Powers and members of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. I am State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and I represent the West Side of Manhattan from Christopher Street in Greenwich Village to West 103rd Street on the Upper West Side. 

Street safety is one of the issues most commonly raised by my constituents—and for good reason. In the past five years, the number of e-bikes, mopeds, and e-scooters on our streets has increased exponentially. In addition to the over 65,000 delivery workers, most of whom use micromobility, more than 50,000 New Yorkers ride an electric Citi Bike daily. 

Last March, in collaboration with the Midtown Community Justice Center, Councilmember Brewer, Councilmember Bottcher, Councilmember Powers and other local elected officials, I helped lead a symposium to “reimagine micro-mobility safety in NYC.” With input from city and state agencies, deliveristas, and other issue-area experts, we studied the causes of our changing streetscape and analyzed solutions. This week, we released a report that included 21 policy suggestions, some of which I’ve introduced as legislation. Thanks to the ideas we generated, I was proud to pass a bill (S7703A) requiring mopeds to be registered at the point of sale, in collaboration with Assemblymember Bores. 

I’ve also introduced legislation (S7587/A7833) alongside Assemblymember Tony Simone which would require licensing and registration for e-bikes used for commercial purposes statewide. We believe commercial e-bikes are the proper target for licensing. Delivery workers are subject to draconian performance criteria, with consequences such as deactivation. These policies uniquely incentivize them to break traffic laws. It’s no coincidence that the food delivery industry suffers a fatality rate of 36 per 100,000 workers (DCWP), making it the most dangerous profession in New York City. We also believe that e-bike licensing should occur at the state-level. New York State has a Department of Motor Vehicles that has registered vehicles for the past 64 years. The DMV already has the digital infrastructure and capacity for processing registrations, issuing plates, and punishing violations. By licensing commercial e-bikes, law enforcement can easily and efficiently target the most dangerous riders without engaging in dangerous, high speed chases. 

I thank Councilmember Brewer for introducing a resolution in support of this bill. 

New Yorkers also need better street design. Policies like universal daylighting would better mediate interactions between vehicles and pedestrians. I sponsor legislation with Assemblymember Simon (S9769/A9985) that would ban parking within twenty feet of a crosswalk in New York City—as is the case in the rest of the State. 

We can further protect all road-users by mandating delivery companies provide accident insurance to workers and by regulating automated employment decisions. Accident insurance would protect both workers and pedestrians in the case of a crash, while regulating automated employment decisions would limit arbitrary deactivation by app-companies. I’ve introduced legislation on both these fronts.

Like most urgent policy issues, micromobility safety requires action on both the City and State level. I’m confident that through continued collaboration and sensitive legislation, we can promote safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and delivery workers alike. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.