By Forum Staff
Mayor Eric Adams and City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez on Tuesday launched “Get Smart Before You Start,” a new multi-platform marketing campaign to educate New Yorkers on how to safely operate e-bikes.
The vast majority—76 percent—of cycling fatalities in 2023 involved e-bikes, according to NYC DOT data.
The campaign will work in tandem with street redesigns and targeted enforcement to reduce injuries and fatalities. With nearly 6 percent of NYC adults reporting that they ride an e-bike or e-scooter once a week or more, the new campaign will use images and instructive audio to inform users how to properly accelerate, brake, and operate an e-bike at an appropriate speed. The campaign includes advertising on TV, radio, print and digital news outlets, as well as on social media, in subway ads, and on LinkNYC kiosks. In addition to advertising, DOT’s Safety Education and Outreach Unit will conduct direct community education to help newer riders know what to expect when they operate an e-bike.
In 2023, NYC DOT installed a record 31.9 miles of protected bike lanes and established the first “double-wide” bike lanes to better accommodate the increasing number of cyclists on Big Apple streets. Bike ridership reached an all-time high last year, and agency officials indicated that DOT is “committed to both improving infrastructure to better accommodate e-bike users and expanding enforcement efforts against the most dangerous behaviors on the road.”
The million-dollar campaign is part of NYC DOT’s $280 million Vision Zero expense budget for the next fiscal year and the agency’s $7.7 billion 10-year capital plan for Vision Zero-related projects.
Building on the success of past Vision Zero campaigns, this is the first strategy in Vision Zero history to focus solely on e-bikes, which have seen a surge in popularity in recent years. The “Get Smart Before You Start” campaign follows a data-driven approach, with a creative concept based on comprehensive market research and guided by NYC DOT crash data showing that in 2023 traditional bike fatalities reached an all-time low and protected bike lane miles reached an all-time high. Last year also saw a record number of “single-bike” fatal crashes involving e-bikes where no other moving vehicle, pedestrian, or cyclist was involved.
NYC DOT also recently launched a six-month pilot program to test public e-bike charging infrastructure among delivery workers. Part of the Adams Administration’s “Charge Safe, Ride Safe” initiative, the pilot includes five locations and more than 100 charging points. The pilot will inform NYC DOT and sister agencies’ efforts to expand safe and affordable e-battery charging to all New Yorkers.
NYC DOT has consistently advocated at the state level for the authority to expand its automated enforcement programs. In 2022, the agency successfully worked with Albany legislators to expand its speed camera program to operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The expansion led to a drop in injuries crashes, and an average of 30-percent reduction in speeding during the hours when the cameras previously were not allowed to operate: on nights and weekends.
This legislative session, DOT officials said it is working with state lawmakers to both renew and expand its red light camera program and crack down on the few, incredibly reckless drivers who are repeatedly caught running red lights.
NYC DOT is also collaborating with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to expand bus-mounted camera enforcement to combat double parking and blocked bike lanes.
