NYC Heard 23 E-Bike Bills. None of Them Passed
The Council’s 30 September release says the hearing covered 23 bills, including a phase-out of Class 3 sales and use. The street cap it prints is already 15 mph. It also says Class 3 assistance goes to 25, not 28. Bicycle Retailer’s penalty line is a warning until 1 April 2029, then $50 and $100. Laid over is not law.
By SickEBike desk
The short answer
New York City did not ban Class 3 e-bikes on 30 September 2026. The Council says 23 bills were heard, and the street limit is already 15 mph. It describes Class 3 as able to exceed 25 mph, not 28. Hudson’s bill would stop sales and later phase out use. Bicycle Retailer prints warnings until 1 April 2029, then $50 and $100. Nothing has passed.
New York City did not ban Class 3 e-bikes on 30 September 2026. The City Council’s own release that day says a joint hearing of Transportation and Infrastructure, Consumer and Worker Protection, and Public Safety was reviewing 23 bills. One piece of that package would phase out the sale and the use of Class 3 e-bikes. Council Member Crystal Hudson’s quote in the release says her bill would stop the sale and rental, then, after a two-year implementation period, phase out the use, with time for current riders and especially delivery workers. Bicycle Retailer, 1 October, prints the penalty shape: a warning before 1 April 2029, then $50 on a second violation and $100 on a further violation within two years of the first, and impoundment if a third or later violation was unsafe operation. A hearing is not a vote. Laid over is not a statute.
Three documents, three numbers. The Council release is 30 September 2026. Bicycle Retailer is 1 October. Transportation Alternatives is also 1 October. Do not average 15, 20, 25, and 28 into one cap.
| What that source printed | |
|---|---|
| Council release | 23 bills. Class 3 described as motors that can exceed 25 mph. The street limit it states for e-bikes, e-scooters, and pedal-assist commercial bicycles is 15 mph. It says state law lets Class 2 assist to 20 and Class 3 to 25. |
| Hudson, in that release | Stop the sale and rental. Two-year implementation. Then phase out use. Delivery workers named. Not a vote count. |
| Bicycle Retailer | Warnings before 1 April 2029. Then $50, then $100 within two years of the first. Impoundment if a later violation was unsafe. A DOT trade-in for a Class 3, or a device that is not a legal Class 1 or 2, toward a Class 1 or 2 or a retailer voucher. A goal of at least 10,000 trade-ins. At least one event per community district each year. Eligibility not limited by job or income. |
| Transportation Alternatives | Supports Hudson’s Intro 244 as ending the sale of e-bikes that exceed 20 mph. That 20 is their sentence. The Council release says 25 for Class 3 and 15 on the street. |
| What passed | Nothing in this package. The operating rule already in force is the 15 mph city cap, 34 RCNY, since 24 October 2025. |
Fifteen is the street. Twenty-five is the Council’s class sentence. Twenty-eight is not in the release
The class chart this desk uses for the rest of the country puts Class 3 at 28 mph of pedal assist. The Council’s 30 September release does not. It says Class 3 motors have the capacity to exceed 25 mph, and that New York State law lets Class 3 assistance go to 25, not 28. It also says the city operating limit is 15. Fifteen is less than 25. A Class 3 bike that can assist to 25 is already faster than the speed the release says the NYPD enforces. Phasing out the sale would be a new rule. The 15 mph cap is the old one. Do not write that the city banned 28 mph bikes. The release did not use 28.
Transportation Alternatives, 1 October, describes Intro 244 as ending the sale of e-bikes that exceed 20 mph. Twenty is not 25, and it is not 15. That is an advocate’s summary of a bill the Council described as Class 3. Until the bill text is the law, the number that is already enforced is the 15 on the release and on this desk’s laws page. April 1, 2029, is the date Bicycle Retailer prints for the end of warnings. Hudson’s quote says two years. From 30 September 2026, two years is 30 September 2028. April 2029 is later than that. Both sentences stay. This desk will not pick the one that makes a cleaner timeline.
The other bills are also not law
Bicycle Retailer’s account of the package includes more than Hudson’s bill. A trade-in run by the Department of Transportation, with a printed goal of at least 10,000 and at least one event in each community district each year. A program with the police and DOT to put a micromobility device on a dynamometer when there is probable cause, and to report the data. Insurance that a third-party food delivery service would have to carry for a worker’s crash, with a licence that does not issue, or that voids, if the insurance is missing. Tracking that notifies a worker of unsafe riding, and that stops deliveries after three notifications in seven days until a safety course is done. Sidewalk-riding detection and a deceleration feature on e-bikes and scooters in a self-service bikeshare system: no penalty the first time, up to $1,000 on a later violation within two years. Traffic-calming devices in bike lanes at no fewer than 50 intersections. Those are proposals in one trade story. They are not a code this desk is telling a rider to obey tonight.
“My legislation in this package would stop the sale and rental of Class 3 e-bikes and, after a two-year implementation period, phase out their use.” Hudson, in the Council release, 30 September 2026. “Would” is the verb.
No council video was attached here. The hearing was 30 September. The trade press was 1 October. A delivery rider on a Class 3 bike is still under the 15 mph rule on the laws page, not under a $50 ticket from a bill that has not passed. If a bill number is enacted, the date and the dollar replace this page. Until then the honest line is 23 bills, zero votes.
Questions people ask
Did New York City ban Class 3 e-bikes?+
Not on 30 September 2026. The Council heard 23 bills. Hudson’s would stop Class 3 sales and rentals and, after two years, phase out use. Bicycle Retailer says warnings would run until 1 April 2029. None of it has passed.
What is the New York City e-bike speed limit today?+
The Council’s 30 September release says 15 mph for e-bikes, e-scooters, and pedal-assist commercial bicycles. That matches the 15 mph rule already on this site, 34 RCNY, in force since 24 October 2025.
Why does the Council say 25 mph if Class 3 is usually 28?+
The Council release says New York State Class 3 assistance goes to 25 mph, and that Class 3 motors can exceed 25. It does not say 28. This desk did not rewrite 25 into 28.
Keep riding
U.S. Ebike Laws in 2026: One Federal Ceiling, Fifty State Rulebooks
Class 1–3 is the baseline. New Jersey just left it. NYC caps you at 15. California wants a helmet and a UL sticker.
SEP 9, 2026
What Is a Class 1, 2, and 3 E-Bike?
Class 1 is pedal-assist to 20. Class 2 adds a throttle to 20. Class 3 is pedal-assist to 28. A Tuttio is none of these. The sticker is not the trail.
SEP 23, 2026
California SB 1167: Over 28 mph Cannot Be Sold as an E-Bike
Newsom signed SB 1167 on 30 September 2026. It takes effect 1 January 2027. The senator’s office says an e-bike is no more than 750 watts, no faster than 20 on a throttle or 28 when pedaling. A faster machine has to be called something else. The Bee’s reading adds a moped under 3 kW and a motor-driven cycle up to 3.75 kW.
OCT 5, 2026