Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Cargo bikes

City Moves to Allow Wider Cargo Bikes; Is a Delivery Revolution Next?

The DOT’s four-wheeled cargo bike prototype (with a large package space and electric batteries, insets) would be one of the vehicles that could ply the streets under new rules. Photos: Gersh Kuntzman

Cargi B lives!

The Department of Transportation is moving forward with new rules that would allow the use of wider, pedal-assist electric cargo bikes — a move that could get thousands of trucks off the road ... including some of DOT's own.

Notice the four wheels.

The proposed rule — which is being announced in Monday's City Record — would permit the use of four-wheeled bicycles up to 48 inches wide. Currently, cargo bikes can only have a maximum of three wheels and be up to 36 inches wide.

The DOT said it was inspired to act because a bill in the state legislature to allow for wider cargo bikes has stalled, even as deliveries have exploded in residential areas.

“Greater use of cargo bikes will bring incredible environmental and safety benefits for New York City by reducing the number of large, high-polluting trucks on our streets,” DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement. “Just two cargo bikes can replace one box truck, increasing safety and reducing CO2
emission by 14 tons per year—equivalent to 30,872 passenger car miles traveled.”

According to the city, only a few hundred cargo bikes are currently plying the streets. But the city's long-standing goal is to open the door for companies to unleash an armada of more than 2,000 cargo bikes by 2026.

In 2022, cargo bikes made more than 130,000 trips delivering over five million packages, "demonstrating their effectiveness as a last-mile delivery mode," DOT said. The agency believes there is "even more unmet demand that could be addressed through this proposed rule change."

The DOT itself has highlighted the potential of cargo bikes by using an electric-assist four-wheeler — anointed "Cargi B" in a much-questioned Twitter poll — to ferry equipment around various job sites in Manhattan and to demonstrate to reporters.

The rule change would only allow for pedal-assist bikes, with e-bike technology similar to Citi Bike’s popular electric models.

The publication in the City Record begins the 30-day public comment period and sets the date of the agency's lone public hearing on the matter: Sept. 13 at 10 a.m. Those who can't make the hearing, but still want to comment have these options:

  • By web by clicking here.
  • By email by clicking here.
  • By snail mail by writing to Diniece Mendes, NYC Department of Transportation, 55 Water St., sixth Floor, New York, NY 10041
  • By fax by using the old-fangled machine, dialing 212-839-7777, and hearing this historic tone:

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Albany Running Out of Options to Close MTA Funding Gap: Watchdog

Tighten the belt and give up the frills, the Citizens Budget Commission warned.

March 21, 2025

Advocates Demand New Jersey Agencies Cough Up Congestion Pricing Data

NJT and the Port Authority need to cough up some actually useful post-congestion pricing travel data, advocates on both sides of the Hudson River said.

March 21, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Fake Deadline Extended Edition

It's the first day of spring and, if you're U.S. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy, it was supposed to be the last day of congestion pricing. But it's not. Plus other news.

March 21, 2025

‘Disaster’: Outdoor Dining Snafu Could Ban Alfresco Booze For Months

It's shaping up to be a sober outdoor dining spring.

March 20, 2025

Congestion Pricing’s Big Winner? Bus Riders

Buses move faster in and around New York City ever since congestion pricing kicked in — spurring MTA officials to tweak some route schedules.

March 20, 2025
See all posts