PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — It’s an increasingly common sight on Philly streets: Electric scooters and e-bikes whiz by in bike lanes and on sidewalks. As more people take to the streets on these modes of transportation, there’s a widening challenge to keep traffic of all kinds flowing smoothly and safely.
“They’re interacting with regular bikes, interacting with pedestrians, interacting with motor vehicles a lot more often than they used to,” said Greg Krykewycz, director of transportation planning at the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.
While these foldable, compact scooters are popular, unless they have turn signals and are licensed and insured, they’re not street-legal.
“In Pennsylvania and in Philadelphia, e-scooters are not legal. People have them, people are using them. It’s not apparently very widely enforced. I haven’t heard of anybody being cited for using one of these things,” he noted, adding that they are permitted in bike lanes in New Jersey, as long as they’re not capable of going faster than 20 mph.
At the commission’s e-micromobility summit on Thursday, Krykewycz said municipalities face the challenge of adapting their regulations and infrastructure, as more people adopt new forms of personal transportation.
“These devices aren’t going away,” he added. “As time passes, there are going to be more and different kinds of these things that people are going to want to use.”