PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Eric McClure, Executive Director of StreetsPAC, on E-bike Regulation
3:23:07
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157 sec
Eric McClure, Executive Director of StreetsPAC, testified on the proposed e-bike regulations, particularly Intro 606. He acknowledged the need for policy solutions to address safety concerns but argued that Intro 606 is misguided and would create more problems than it solves.
- McClure emphasized that e-bikes increase mobility for various groups and mandated registration would negatively impact their adoption.
- He raised concerns about the cost and logistics of implementing a registration system, as well as potential racial bias in enforcement.
- McClure expressed support for Intro 1131, which proposes a task force to study and recommend best solutions for e-bike safety.
Eric McClure
3:23:07
Madam chair, thanks.
3:23:08
Nice to see you.
3:23:09
Thank you for holding this hearing.
3:23:11
Lita Frias, council member Holden.
3:23:14
My name is Eric McClure.
3:23:15
I'm the exec director of Streetspac.
3:23:17
It's not hard to understand the motivation behind intro 60 6.
3:23:20
The rapid adoption of powered micromobility devices has altered the landscape of many city streets, and government's ability to manage that growth hasn't kept up with the technology.
3:23:28
Such vehicles have been involved in crashes resulting in injuries and, in some cases, deaths to both operators and pedestrians, and any injury or death is unacceptable and demands a policy solution.
3:23:38
However, we believe that Intra 606 is a misguided approach that would lead to many more problems than it would solve.
3:23:44
Ebikes increase mobility for many people, including commute commuters, working cyclists, the elderly, and people with physical limitations.
3:23:51
Mandated registration would have a deeply negative effect on the widespread adoption of ebikes at a time when the shifting of of car of trips from cars to bikes is in most quarters seen as something that's beneficial.
3:24:01
Creating the infrastructure within n NYC DOT to manage registration would be extremely costly and cumbersome, diverting funding resources from other proven safety efforts.
3:24:10
Also, I wanna note that nearly every other jurisdiction that's tried or contemplated similar licensing efforts have quickly abandoned it as we've heard earlier today from several people.
3:24:20
We also believe that a registration requirement would be an invitation for police officers to conduct pretextual stops of anyone riding a bicycle or scooter of any type, especially if those persons are black or brown.
3:24:30
I say this to the white people, and we've heard about how white people shouldn't talk about racism, but the facts are that 90% of the people stopped for jaywalking and for riding on the sidewalk in New York City are people of color.
3:24:42
And it's a reason that the council passed legislation just 2 months ago to make jaywalking, which is a name that was coined to make it sound bad, legal.
3:24:51
So the the facts are pretty clear on this.
3:24:54
It's also, I wanna note the behaviors that understandably lead people feeling unsafe.
3:24:58
The riding on the sidewalk, the failing to surrender right of way to pedestrians at lights and stop signs, and riding on runway streets are already illegal but almost universally unenforced.
3:25:07
NYPD wrote fewer than 2 tickets per precinct per day for red light running last year, and that's for all vehicles, cars and trucks included.
3:25:13
In the tragic case of Priscilla Loke, who was the rider who struck her stayed on the scene and was interviewed by police.
3:25:19
He was on a Citi Bike that had an identification number on it.
3:25:22
They let him go.
3:25:23
It was only later that he was issued a summons for dumping
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
3:25:25
a red light.
3:25:26
Thank you.
Eric McClure
3:25:26
And I just wanna really quickly say we are very supportive of intro 1131.
3:25:31
We think a task force, especially on an accelerated time frame, makes sense.
3:25:35
We we should get experts in a room to talk about the best solutions, of which we, unfortunately, don't think 60 6 is
Roxanne Delgado
3:25:42
is what.
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
3:25:42
Thank you.
Eric McClure
3:25:43
Thank you, chair.
