Citi Bike has agreed to curb the pace at which its e-bikes can go at 15 miles per hour — a transfer that got here in response to a service suspension risk from Mayor Adams’ administration.
The electrical Citi Bikes can at the moment trip at 18 miles per hour, a restrict the service’s operator, Lyft, beforehand set as a part of an settlement with Adams’ Division of Transportation.
However late Thursday, Citi Bike normal supervisor Patrick Knoth stated that attributable to “direction from City Hall,” the brand new pace cap can be 15 miles per hour.
“We’re working to meet that mandate and best serve our riders,” Knoth added with out providing a timeline for the way quickly the decrease pace cap could possibly be efficient on the a whole bunch of e-bikes Lyft operates throughout the town.
Randy Mastro, Adams’ first deputy mayor, then despatched a letter to Lyft late Thursday saying that attributable to its refusal to adjust to the demand for a brand new 15 mph pace restrict he was declaring the present 18 mph pace restrict an “emergency threat to life and property.”
Randy Mastro. (Barry Williams / New York Every day Information)
Underneath that declaration, Mastro’s letter, which was additionally signed by Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, stated Lyft needed to come into compliance with the brand new 15 mph pace restrict inside 15 days. If it didn’t, Mastro instructed Adams’ administration may invoke a provision of Lyft’s contract that claims the town authorities reserves the fitting to begin “removing, replacing, relocating, reinstalling or locking all or any portion” of Citi Bike’s fleet if doesn’t adjust to guidelines set by the town within the occasion of a “threat to life” emergency.
Inside hours of Mastro making that risk, Knoth introduced Citi Bike was “working” on complying with the brand new mandate.
Mastro, a controversial legal professional who served within the Giuliani administration, cited the necessity to invoke such a drastic emergency to the truth that 11 individuals have died on electrical Citi Bikes since 2021. He additionally famous 1,170 have been injured in that stretch.
Mayor Eric Adams. (Barry Williams / New York Every day Information)
Since turning into Adams’ prime deputy at Metropolis Corridor in early April, Mastro has been on the heart of a number of different controversial coverage disputes, together with signing a legally disputed order to let ICE again on Rikers, issuing a directive to freeze sure fines on landlords and pressuring a live performance promoter to cancel a efficiency by a pro-Palestinian singer.
Most non-public e-bikes can at the moment trip at 20 mph, a restrict that must be lowered below the Adams administration’s new regime. It stays unclear how precisely the administration will implement the brand new pace restrict, however Mastro acknowledged within the letter to Lyft that the matter nonetheless must undergo a proper rulemaking course of, that means its official implementation is probably going nonetheless over a month away.
Since Adams took workplace in 2022, the Division of Transportation has fallen means in need of bike lane development targets set as a part of a citywide grasp plan.
In his letter to Lyft, Mastro argued the town’s progress on bike lane development is being inhibited by e-bike fatalities.
“The lack of action to address this issue is hindering the city’s ability to advance bike lane and micro-mobility infrastructure and safety across the city,” he wrote.
The mayor has not too long ago portrayed cracking down on bike using as a matter of public security amid widespread concern.
Final month, his NYPD began handing out legal as an alternative of civil summonses to bike riders for operating purple lights or in any other case using recklessly, a drastic shift that has outraged transit advocates and Metropolis Council members who notice automotive drivers don’t face such penalties for comparable infractions.
Initially Revealed: June 6, 2025 at 8:54 AM EDT
