City Council, PD discuss e-bike use on city streets

PLATTSBURGH | City Common Council has engaged discussion over the past few months on e-bike, e-scooters and other electronic vehicle use on city streets. Concerns are rising about speed, erratic weaving between cars and operators not following traffic patterns. E-bike traffic infractions are difficult to spot and enforce due to a lack of identifiers and enforcement protocol. City of Plattsburgh Police Chief Jarrod Trombley apprised the council of plans to engage e-bike training for city police officers. In August, he relayed ongoing City Police discussions with police departments in Rochester and Syracuse. Both cities have educational training programs that appear to be working to address e-bike safety. But larger city bike lanes are well delineated along sidewalks inside parking lanes. Most streets in Plattsburgh are not wide enough to achieve that configuration, Trombley said last month. City PD is taking proactive steps, working toward information outreach to educate e-bike and bike users, as well as pedestrians and the driving public, about shared road use and adherence to local laws. "When you sit at a traffic light and see e-bikes and scooters go flying by, it frustrates the (motor vehicle) operator. So we have to make sure the bike operator understands that they have to follow every vehicle and traffic law as the vehicle does. And then make sure the motor vehicle operator knows the (bikes) have a right to be there." Council asked if new city laws could help control e-bike use. Play Vehicle laws might address some of the problems, Trombley said in August. But the laws don't specify what an e-vehicle is. Speed potential classifies vehicles in New York State. Play Vehicles are currently governed by Article 34 of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law, which outlines helmet use, adherence to traffic signals and signs, use of brakes, bells and safety lights. The law requires cyclists to allow three feet of space when passing other vehicles. Police from Rochester are helping City of Plattsburgh police create a campaign that should be completed by next spring. The program will reach youth and adults, pedestrians and schools in collaboration with police officers. "We do have training (with Rochester police) here on Sept. 24," Trombley reported to the council on Thursday. PRICILLA'S LAW Asked if he noted any movement on the state level to address e-vehicle traffic regulation, Trombley said pending legislation would likely be taken up in January. There are bills in both the State Senate and Assembly to require licensure, registration and insurance for e-bikes used on city roadways. Priscilla's Law, A339A (Assembly) and S2599 (Senate), was proposed in January 2025 for review in the 2025-26 session. Both bills are currently in respective Assembly and Senate Transportation committees. The measure is named after Priscilla Loke, a 68-year-old educator who was killed by an e-bike in New York City in 2023. The new law would require e-bike and e-scooter registration with license plates and insurance in "certain cities" to increase accountability. License plates would give law enforcement the ability to identify e-vehicles involved in accidents or traffic violations and to fine operators for unsafe use. "There is real movement, there is conversation while seeing this (concern) build," Trombley said. "There are a lot of laws there that do apply (to electronic vehicle use on city roadways)," Mayor Wendell Hughes said. "It's a matter of how you enforce them. How do you know how fast that bike goes? If it goes a certain amount of miles-per-hour, it's not legal. How does a patrolling police officer know how fast that bike goes?" Police officers are trained to gauge speed, Trombley replied. "But that is true, you don't know how fast its potential is." Hughes said other municipalities and cities have common concerns with speed and city street use of e-bikes. The issue has been raised at New York Conference of Mayors (NYCOM) meetings. "It's the same discussion," Hughes said. "I've had some really good discussion with some of the other cities." Trombley said an influx of bicycle use and e-bikes comes with the rise in population in Plattsburgh, as students return to university and college programs. "Sometimes (the students) are not from our area, so their traffic behavior is different. We're obviously looking at an influx of bikes as well. "Myself and the captain have been out knocking on doors, doing porch talks, educating our newly arrived student residents in off-campus housing, making sure they understand our ordinances. It's been received very well," the police chief said of the outreach. The other concern, he said, comes as city district schools return to session and younger students are walking to school. "We're making sure our officers are out there being vigilant," Trombley said.

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City Council, PD discuss e-bike use on city streets

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