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.
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:
Read More:
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog New York City
Eyes On The Street: Coastal Resiliency Causes Mess For Pedestrians and Cyclists
Unfortunately for cyclists and pedestrians, this situation won't be fixed until "at least 2026.”
State Pols Still Haven’t Spent Millions Alloted for Transit as Congestion Pricing Looms
There's like $45 million sitting there — unspent — for outer borough transit improvements. What are state pols waiting for?
Supporters, Mayor Rally for ‘City of Yes’ Zoning Change as it Enters Public Review Phase
The mayor's signature zoning plan is ready for review by all 59 community board, plus the city's five borough presidents and then each Council member. Advocates are worried it will be watered down.
‘Buy, Bully, Bamboozle’: Report Alleges App Companies Threaten Democracy
App delivery companies seek to block worker-led improvements by spending big money on political influence, leveraging their data, and even co-opting progressive language, argues a new report that lands days before a national one-day strike by app-workers.
