All e-bike Citi Bikes now restricted to 15 mph in NYC

All pedal-assist Citi Bike e-bikes now have maximum speeds of 15 mph following a demand from Mayor Eric Adams' administration that they be slowed down.

A spokesperson for Lyft, which runs Citi Bike, confirmed Friday Citi Bike had lowered the e-bikes maximum speeds. Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro had set Friday as the deadline for the speed limit to be lowered in a scathing letter that alleged the 20,000 e-bikes were harming public safety in the five boroughs.

"Following direction from City Hall and DOT, we’ve reduced Citi Bike pedal assist speeds on our ebike fleet,” Citi Bike General Manager, Patrick Knoth wrote in a statement. “We remain committed to connecting our riders with where they need to go across New York City."

The maximum speed for Citi Bike e-bikes was previously 18 mph.

Mastro rejected a plan proposed by Citi Bike to add speedometers to the e-bikes, leaving it to riders to follow the 15 mph speed limit. In his letter, Mastro noted there were nine deaths since 2021 on the gray e-bikes, and 1,170 injuries on the Citi Bike e-bikes.

The new 15 mph limit also applies to riders on other e-bikes, even if they are able to exceed that speed.

The Adams administration declined to comment and pointed Gothamist to previous statements by the mayor.

“We're proud of the work we've done to expand biking across the five boroughs, but we have an obligation to keep everyone safe,” Adams said earlier this month.

As of last May, 69% of Citi Bike rides were on its e-bikes, which cost extra to use.