A passenger holding their e-scooter on the PATCO High-Speed Line.
Good news: NJ TRANSIT has revised its bike policy to now allow e-bikes and e-scooters on buses trains and light rail vehicles.
This is a reversal of a policy that previously banned E-bikes and E scooters on buses and trains and even on NJ TRANSIT property. In other words, arriving at a rail station by e-bike and locking it up there was a violation.
The concern about lithium batteries prompted the policy after a few high-profile hoverboard fire incidents in 2015. The ban was extended to e-bikes and e-scooters shortly thereafter. Ironically, Segways were not included in the ban; Segway’s parent company Nine-Bot is one the of leading manufactures of e-scooters.
The new policy for personal vehicles is consistent with the existing bicycle policy. Gas-powered vehicles are prohibited on NJ TRANSIT vehicles.
This policy change comes at a time when the Port Authority of NY/NJ was about to implement an e-bike/e-scooter ban on the PATH train system (Newark Penn Station or Hoboken to Manhattan). The Port Authority’s announcement on social media drew fierce backlash and as a result the e-bike ban has been put on hold.
In our area, SEPTA already allows E-bikes but doesn’t specifically name e-scooters. But the agency’s bike policy defines bicycles as “two-wheeled, manually powered or electrically assisted vehicles”. Neither PATCO nor AMTRAK has posted an e-bike specific policy.
For more details on bike rules for buses and trains: