Princeton bans e-bikes in latest update to PEV policy

Electric bikes will be banned on campus beginning June 1, according to a campus-wide message obtained by The Daily Princetonian set to be distributed Monday morning. The decision was finalized by the Environmental, Safety, and Risk Management Committee (ESRM). 

“E-bike users have increasingly been observed violating safety rules, including riding on sidewalks and pedestrian pathways, failing to yield to pedestrians, and carrying multiple riders on a single device,” the message reads.

The ban updates the University’s existing Personal Electric Vehicle (PEV) policy and prohibits e-bikes in the restricted zone, which includes all of the University’s main campus. It extends to e-bike use, storage, parking, and charging, and will apply to students, faculty, staff, and visitors. The FAQs note that the restricted zone includes University-owned sidewalks along Washington Road.

The message also states that students should not bring e-bikes to campus at the start of the Fall 2026 semester, warning that “any e‐bike found on campus after June 1 will be considered abandoned property and will be subject to confiscation, with no expectation of return.”

The only exception to the rule is for commuters: Faculty, staff, and graduate students with proof of an off-campus address may apply for a University e-bike commuter permit and park it in a designated space near TigerTransit stops. Undergraduates are not eligible for the permit.

The FAQ obtained by the ‘Prince’ states that e-bikes cannot be operated as traditional bicycles, meaning that simply removing the battery will not exempt the bike from the ban.

They also provide guidance on shipping the e-bike home, which may prove complicated, as most airlines prohibit batteries in cargo and most commercial shipping services require e-bikes with larger lithium-ion batteries to be handled as hazardous materials. Students are encouraged to contact a local bike shop or third-party hazmat shipping company. 

The decision comes after a months-long debate over campus safety, discussed at the final Council of the Princeton University Community meeting of the fall semester. 

During that meeting, Director of Campus Safety and Health Kelly States told attendees that ESRM had been tracking e-bike injuries on campus in cooperation with University Health Services.

States said at the meeting that e-bikes have “gotten much, much larger, they’ve gotten faster, they are heavier, they are more powerful.” She added that the ESRM believes that the number of injuries was “vastly underreported,” and didn’t capture the “near misses.”

The ban aligns with Princeton’s 2019 Campus Mobility Framework, which aimed to keep motorized vehicles “mostly behind the scenes,” States noted.

States also said that on a national scale, “pedestrians being struck by bicycles and killed by bicycles was nearly unheard of from a manual bike perspective versus an e-bike perspective.”

At the time, informal polling showed that the student body was “split” on the issue, with States noting that staff, faculty, visitors, parents, and contractors also had concerns.

Following the December CPUC meeting, ESRM released a public feedback form and reconvened in February. 

In January 2024, the University banned e-scooters as part of a broader PEV policy, which quickly led to the confiscation of at least 80 e-scooters.

That policy also imposed restrictions on e-bikes, including no motor-only riding, no speeds exceeding 10 miles an hour, no riding on pedestrian pathways, and no use inside buildings. 

The University’s decision comes just months before e-bike regulations are set to take effect across the Garden State. During his last full day of office in February, former Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill enacting some of the strictest e-bike regulations in the country. 

The new state law — which is set to take effect in July — requires riders to register, license, and insure their e-bikes, mandates minimum rider ages, and places a one-year ban on online e-bike sales.

University spokesperson Jennifer Morrill told the ‘Prince’ in February that the legislation, “along with feedback collected from the campus community,” would inform the CPUC’s discussions about a potential policy update.

The FAQ notes that “the ESRM committee updated this policy based on campus feedback, safety observations, and established campus mobility principles,” and that this decision was not solely based on the new state legislation.

Students who rely on e-bikes for daily transportation across campus, particularly athletes who regularly commute between upper campus and athletic facilities, have previously raised concerns about a potential ban. In the FAQ, the University proposes TigerTransit as an alternative for longer trips, noting that stops are within a five- to 10-minute walk of most buildings on campus. 

Hayk Yengibaryan is a head News editor emeritus and senior Sports writer for the ‘Prince.’ He is from Glendale, Calif. and typically covers breaking news and profiles. He can be reached at hy5161[at]princeton.edu.

Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.