Overview
In its Clean Energy Fund Public Transportation and Mobility investment plan, NYSERDA set the goal of supporting clean mobility solutions, especially among underserved communities such as delivery workers. Often from immigrant communities, delivery workers were paid on average $5.39/hour before a 2023 NYC law raised their hourly wages to $19.56/hour. These workers save money by riding low-quality e-bikes, while charging overnight in apartments, leading to a spate of fires in recent years.
For this project, C2SMART researchers are conducting a field- and survey-based research effort to better understand the travel habits and preferences of NYC’s delivery workers. The results of this research will help inform state and city efforts to improve access to high-quality, fire-safe micromobility options. Over 65,000 delivery workers rely on micromobility to distribute food, groceries, and packages across the five boroughs. Tragic fires pushed the City Council and Mayor’s Office to pass a law mandating that all e-bikes sold in the city meet Underwriters Laboratory (UL) standards. Fewer than 10% of e-bikes sold in NYC today, however, meet the new required standards, primarily due to cost concerns.
Research Objectives
Task 1 – Conduct Literature Review of Delivery Worker Mobility Patterns.
- The team is reviewing publicly available studies and reports that provide insights on the state of delivery worker populations in NYS or elsewhere in the US (e.g., peer cities), and analyzing trends in where, when, and how they operate.
Task 2 – Perform Data Collection and Analysis.
- The team is conducting a screenline sampling data collection to understand the percentage breakdown of delivery workers using mopeds, e-bikes, and pedal bikes and how many cyclists are delivery workers versus other cyclists/commuters.
- The team is developing and conducting a survey, which will cover a range of topics related to delivery worker profiles, e-bike battery usage, safety concerns, cost considerations in purchases and maintenance, and barriers for participation in trade-in programs. Insights related to the following categories will be studied: 1) trip pattern and e-bike/moped usage, 2) battery life and charging habits, 3) safety concerns, 4) factors that influence respondents’ choices of e-bikes, mopeds, and batteries, and 5) level of interest, and barriers, for delivery workers to participate in rebate programs.
Task 3 – Perform Benefit and Cost Analysis.
- The team is conducting a cost analysis to estimate the total ownership cost for multiple scenarios involving gas and electric mopeds versus UL-certified e-bikes, utilizing available data. The Life Cycle Cost User Guide can be found here.
Task 4 – Final Written Report.
Related Media
Personnel
Jingqin Gao
SENIOR RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, NYU
Jingqin Gao is the Principal Investigator on this project.
enola ma
Researcher, NYU
Enola Ma is a Researcher on this project.
Lizzie Pohl
Researcher, NYU
Lizzie Pohl is a Researcher on this project.
Holly Chase
Researcher, NYU
Holly Chase is a Researcher on this project.