NYC is giving free e-bikes to delivery workers with shoddy or illegal electric bikes

New York City’s Department of Transportation has a novel idea for helping get the most common uncertified e-bikes off the city’s streets: let their riders swap them for a safer UL-compliant electric bike for free.

The program targets delivery workers on e-bikes, who are the backbone of the city’s critical food and parcel delivery services. Millions of people rely on such workers for timely deliveries, yet the low wages and brutal conditions of the job have forced many riders to seek out low-cost electric bicycles to perform the work—exactly the kind of e-bikes that are least likely to have received safety certifications.

The NYC DOT has already begun accepting applications for the new E-Bike Trade-In Program, which is open to delivery workers with non-compliant electric bicycles as well as the often-seen electric scooters/mopeds that don’t really qualify as e-bikes, despite their ubiquitous use in the industry.

Interestingly, the program even accepts gasoline-powered mopeds that are not able to be legally registered with the DMV, including those that lack VINs.

In exchange for trading in a non-certified vehicle, the delivery worker will receive a new UL-certified electric bike with a spare UL-certified battery.

There are a few requirements for eligibility. The worker has to have earned at least US $1,500 by working in the food delivery industry last year in 2024, live in one of the five New York City boroughs, be at least 18 years old, and own/use one of the eligible devices for trade-in.

The program is free to participate in with no additional cost for the delivery workers. However, the supply of free electric bicycles is described as “limited.”

Free e-bikes are not awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. If the eligible applicant pool ends up exceeding the number of free electric bikes available, the NYC DOT will use a lottery system to choose program participants.

Those wishing to apply can submit their applications anytime before the application window closes on March 10, 2025.