August 2, 2024 - (New York City, NY) New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today announced that the first five months of the agency’s public e-bike charging pilot have been highly successful, with robust participation and positive feedback from participating delivery workers. Launched this spring, select delivery workers are participating in the pilot across five locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The pilot is part of an initiative to test the safe charging of lithium-ion batteries by delivery workers in regulated, public locations. It is a key component of the Adams administration’s ‘Charge Safe, Ride Safe‘ initiative to combat lithium-ion battery fires. Findings from the pilot show that food delivery workers are enthusiastically participating and can now be more productive, and that access to these charging stations has resulted in a reduction, and some elimination, of home charging. In addition to enhanced safety for delivery workers and their neighbors, there have been no safety-related issues or 311 complaints at any of the pilot locations.
“Delivery workers have one of the toughest jobs in New York City, and our public e-bike charging pilot program is helping them safely charge their bikes while they’re on the go,” said New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “So far, this pilot program has resulted in over 8,000 UL-certified lithium-ion batteries being swapped and nearly 1,000 on-site e-bike charges being made by participating delivery workers.”
The 120 pilot participants represent an even divide of residents in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, with the large majority (83 percent) of them working exclusively in Manhattan. The results of an onboarding survey administered by NYC DOT found that 84 percent of pilot participants were previously charging their e-bike batteries at home. About half of the test users who attended recent focus groups indicated that they have stopped charging their batteries at home, while the rest of attending test users have significantly reduced at-home charging sessions.
As of late-July after five months into the six-month pilot, over 8,000 battery swaps were made at stations, and nearly 1,000 charging sessions were completed. Frequent users swapped batteries an average of eight to 14 times per week and utilized the direct-vehicle charging stations for an average of five to eight sessions per week.
In addition to the usage statistics of pilot participants, observations and data so far indicate that the e-bike battery charging availability has resulted in promising behavioral change in terms of home charging. In focus groups with participating food delivery workers, NYC DOT found:
- About half of the attending test users indicated that they have stopped charging their batteries at home and now use battery swapping technology.
- For those who still charge batteries at home, they are now doing so less frequently than they did before.
- Concerns over fire safety are driving program participation. Users feel safer with the new public charging options.
- Users feel they can be more productive because they no longer need to carry an extra battery, no longer need to take breaks for charging, or are able to travel longer distances.
NYC DOT developed the pilot through the agency’s DOT Innovation Studio, a research and development innovation partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and Newlab, the startup venture platform based in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard. The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) is also a key partner in the pilot.
A final report on the pilot program will be published following its conclusion later this year. Lessons learned from the pilot will inform future investment in micromobility charging infrastructure.
Three companies participate in the pilot – Swobbee, Swiftmile, and Popwheels – and combinations of the companies’ equipment can be found at each of the five locations selected for the pilot: Cooper Square, Essex Market, and Plaza De Las Americas in Manhattan, as well as Brooklyn Army Terminal and Willoughby Street in Brooklyn. These five locations were selected because they are located in high-profile and heavy trafficked areas with multiple establishments offering deliveries and near an abundance of delivery customers.
“Los Deliveristas Unidos and Workers Justice Project applauds the successful results of NYC DOT’s e-bike charging pilot program. The success of this initiative over the past five months demonstrates the need for the expansion of safe e-bike charging throughout New York City,” said Ligia Guallpa, executive director, Workers Justice Project/Los Deliveristas Unidos. “We look forward to working together with NYC DOT to continue to deliver solutions to improve working conditions for 60,000 delivery workers in New York City.”
“We want to thank the Mayor Adams’ administration for funding this e-bike charging pilot program, which is supporting and providing tremendous value to food delivery workers,” said Sergio Solano, New York City Food Delivery Movement representative. “We are grateful to the NYC Department of Transportation for all the work and effort that went into the implementation of this pilot program. In the face of the ongoing fire crisis linked to lithium-ion batteries, we look forward to seeing more investment in outdoor, e-bike charging infrastructure.”
“The battery-fire crisis plaguing NYC is solvable, and we’re thrilled to see results showing that it can be done while improving the lives of the delivery workers who serve as the backbone of the city,” said David Hammer, co-founder, PopWheels. “We’re grateful to Mayor Adams, NYC DOT, Newlab, and NYC EDC for their leadership and vision in helping bring these solutions to the streets as fast as possible, and we’re excited to continue getting bad batteries out of the homes of NYC.”
“We’re seeing consistent safe charging by delivery workers at our charging stations,” said Matt Tollner, director of operations, Swiftmile. “In the past few months, DOT’s pilot has boosted safety and supported the demand for sustainable transportation in New York City. Swiftmile’s charging infrastructure continues to allow delivery workers to operate more safely, leading to fewer disruptions, lower maintenance costs, and an improved quality of life for delivery workers.”
“Our collaboration with the NYC Department of Transportation and Newlab has led to exceptional outcomes, with the Cooper Square charging station achieving the highest utilization rate globally for Swobbee,” said Stephan Von Wolff, managing director, Swobbee US. “It is incredibly rewarding to see delivery riders embrace and rely on our system, demonstrating its critical importance and effectiveness.”
