City officials said on Thursday that they are giving new e-bikes and batteries to delivery workers in NYC as part of a safety program to reduce fires tied to micromobility devices.
NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez explained that delivery workers who turn in unsafe devices will receive a new safety-certified e-bike and two new lithium-ion batteries free of charge.
Rodriguez said more than 400 e-bikes and batteries will be given out over the next several weeks. Before getting the new equipment, recipients will be required to complete an online safety course.
“I want to be clear. As part of this course, we expect all delivery workers to ride at 15 miles per hour as per the decision Mayor Eric Adams and the city has made to reduce the speed of e-bikes,” Rodriguez said. “We encourage all the food app companies, from Door Dash to Uber and others to do their part to not put the pressure that they put on delivery workers that they have to go so fast to deliver food to our apartments.”
Delivery workers can sign up online for the program at ebike-trade.nyc.gov.
The program’s goal is to keep e-bike riders and communities safe. According to the FDNY, 110 fires and 25 injuries caused by faulty lithium-ion batteries have occurred in NYC to date in 2025.
FDNY Chief Robert Tucker said there have been no fatalities this year due to e-bike batteries, while there were 18 deaths and 150 injuries from the devices in 2023.
“The numbers are trending in the right direction for sure, especially when it comes to deaths, but there is still tremendous work to be done,” Tucker said. “This is an issue that’s not going away. We know that micromobility devices are part of the future of NYC.”
Tucker added that the trade-in program is a “creative solution” to help protect the public by removing “unsafe, uncertified batteries” from NYC streets.
But he added that fires can still start regardless of whether they are certified. Fires can even start when the batteries are not actively charging.
“Data collected in 2023 showed that nearly 60% of fires by lithium-ion batteries were caused by batteries that were not being charged at the time,” he said.
Tucker gave safety tips advising New Yorkers to follow manufacturer guidelines, not to purchase illegal aftermarket batteries, look for UL certification stickers and charge e-bikes outside if possible.
The $2 million trade-in program was established in response to Local Law 131 of 2023 sponsored by NYC Council Member Keith Powers.
Representatives from the Worker’s Justice Project, which advocates for immigrant workers in the city, said they support the initiative.
“Worker’s Justice Project applauds the NYC Department of Transportation for this historic, first-in-the-nation achievement in providing safe and certified e-bikes and e-batteries for the city’s app delivery workers,” Ligia Guallpa, WJP’s executive director and co-founder of its Los Deliveristas Unido campaign, said. “Today demonstrates what is possible when workers organize for their safety and rights and find true partners in city government willing to demonstrate that centering worker safety can drive cutting-edge innovations to meet transportation needs.”
