Fordham University to Prohibit E-Bikes and Scooters Across Its Properties Starting in January

Fordham University is prohibiting e-bikes and scooters from its campuses, citing concerns that the lithium-ion batteries powering the devices can explode and start fires, the Daily News has learned.

Starting Jan. 3, battery-powered e-bikes, e-scooters and e-skateboards will not be permitted on any property belonging to the Bronx school, "including all buildings on and off campus," according to an alert that Robert Fitzer, the university's associate vice president for public safety, sent to students on Friday. The devices will also be barred from sidewalks and walkways within the campus.

Fitzer wrote that storing and charging lithium-ion batteries in residence halls and other university buildings poses a serious hazard because the batteries "may explode causing injuries and starting fires."

He said the policy was prompted by "the recent surge in deadly fires in New York City from batteries." Fitzer explained that such fires are chemical reactions that, once started, cannot be put out the way conventional fires can, and that they produce toxic gases that can be deadly in enclosed spaces. "Fire extinguishers do not work on lithium-ion batteries," he added.

A Fordham spokesman declined to comment further on the ban when contacted. The spokesman said the policy had not so far generated any controversy.

Fordham is not the first New York City school to take this step. According to their websites, Pace University, Columbia and NYU already maintain similar restrictions on e-bikes, self-propelled scooters and hoverboards.

The numbers help explain the concern. Lithium-ion batteries have caused 202 fires in the city so far this year, injuring about 140 people and killing six. That is more than twice the figure from the same period in 2021, when fire officials linked 100 fires to e-bike and scooter batteries.

One of the more serious recent incidents came last month, when nearly 40 people were hurt in a Manhattan high-rise after an electric bicycle's lithium-ion battery overheated.

City lawmakers are now looking for ways to regulate e-bike batteries without penalizing the thousands of delivery workers across the city who depend on the devices for their livelihoods.

Safety experts say batteries installed at the factory in scooters appear to be safe and meet industry standards. According to FDNY officials, the batteries that tend to catch fire are aftermarket products, which e-bike users buy online or at scooter shops to supplement or replace the original batteries.