The budget agreement creates three classes of e-bikes: pedal-assist bikes that max out at 20 miles per hours, throttle-powered bikes that max out at 20 mph and throttled-powered bikes that max out at 25 miles per hour in cities of one million people or more. All classes, as well as e-scooters that max out at 15 miles per hour, are now legalized statewide. Though, municipalities can still apply additional regulations. For instance, scooter share programs are not permitted in Manhattan, so don’t expect to see Bird, Lime or Jump scooters there anytime soon.

Since Ford acquired the company in 2018, it has expanded into over 60 cities and 25 university campuses in the US. Last year, Spin unveiled a redesigned model, with a larger frame and platform, plus improved shock absorption, braking, acceleration, battery life and security features.

It’s not surprising that Spin wants to expand into Europe. Bird’s e-scooters can be found in 50 cities throughout Europe and the Middle East, and Lime is exploring international expansion as well — though it had to abruptly end its service in Switzerland because a glitch was throwing people off.

While some UK governments are still debating whether scooters are suitable for road use, Germany legalized the use of scooters on roads and bike paths in May, kicking off a race to cities like Cologne. Spin hasn’t revealed how much its European trips might cost.

According to Axios, Lime is also laying off about 100 employees, which amounts to approximately 14 percent of its workforce. Lime president Joe Kraus told the website the tweaks will help the company become sustainable this year. “We’re very confident that in 2020, Lime will be the first next-generation mobility company to be profitable,” he said.

Today’s announcement isn’t the first time Lime has scaled back its ambitions. Last month, the company shuttered its short-lived LimePod service, which had allowed people in Seattle to rent an electric car through the company’s mobile app. The company has also tried to find new ways to generate revenue. In March, Lime started testing a subscription service that allows frequent customers to sign up for unlimited scooter and e-bike rides. It plans to roll out the service to additional countries this month.

The bill was passed in June with strong support, sailing through both the state Senate and the state Assembly will minimal opposition. The new legislation was particularly desired by delivery workers, according to StreetsBlog NYC, who often prefer e-bikes for their work.

However, Gov. Cuomo chose to veto the bill due to a lack of included safety measures. The bill did not include mandatory helmet requirements, for example, although municipalities could still have chosen to enforce a helmet rule if they had wanted to. A copy of the veto message was posted on Twitter by senior advisor to Gov. Cuomo, Rich Azzopardi.

Here is a copy of the e-bike / e-scooter veto message. The short version is that significant safety provisions were left out of the final version. This will be worked in next session. pic.twitter.com/HwD9k3E61T

— Rich Azzopardi (@RichAzzopardi) December 26, 2019

To move forward from here, the New York legislature will have to come up with a new version of the bill, pass it again and send it back to Cuomo will the hope that he will approve it this time.

Law enforcement officers set up a sting operation using a Ring camera, hoping to lure out whoever vandalized nearly 140 scooters since April. They placed scooters in view of security cameras and waited. Sure enough, Williams was caught tampering with the handle of one scooter and the frame of another. While no scooter-related injuries have been reported to Fort Lauderdale police, cutting the brake lines could easily cause severe harm or death given how fast scooters move and how close riders are to traffic.

Police say the crimes took place within a two-block radius of Williams’ home. All Lime scooters were removed from the neighborhood, and riders are advised to call the appropriate vendors if they notice any tampering of their vehicles.

Williams was released on bail while he awaits trial. If convicted, he could be forced to pay for the repairs of the scooters that he vandalized — about $70 per scooter according the NBC Miami — as well as other penalties.

The researchers looked at not only emissions producing by people riding scooters, but also the environmental impact of the materials used in the manufacture of the vehicles and in the shipping and collection of them as well. The amount of electricity used to recharge the scooters was minimal, but what did use a lot of resources was the components that go into each scooter. In addition, the vehicles that picked up the scooters created significant emissions.

Another way to consider how environmentally friendly e-scooters are is to look at what other transport options people would have used instead if the scooters weren’t available. Almost half of riders said they would have walked or cycled if the scooter wasn’t available, with around one third saying they would have taken a car.

The study showed biking and walking were almost always better for the environment than taking a scooter, even if people were riding e-bikes. Although taking a car was almost always more environmentally damaging than using a scooter, taking a bus was less damaging if the route had high ridership.

Overall, it is not the scooters themselves which are causing environmental damage, but rather the infrastructure which supports them. “There are a lot of factors to consider, but e-scooters are environmentally friendly compared to some modes of transport,” says Jeremiah Johnson, one of the study’s authors. “And there are things that companies and local governments can do to further reduce their impacts. For example, allowing — or encouraging — companies to collect scooters only when they hit a battery depletion threshold would reduce a scooter’s impact, because you wouldn’t be collecting scooters that don’t need re-charging.”

The revamped e-scooters have already been tested as part of a pilot program in Baltimore, and beginning next month, the scooters will arrive in Portland, Ore.; Los Angeles; Berkeley, Calif.; Denver; Washington, DC; Kansas City, Mo.; Memphis, Tenn. and Minneapolis. They’ll arrive with new branding, and Spin says we can expect to see them in more US cities in the not-too-distant future. Of course, they’ll have plenty of competition, from the likes of Lime, Lyft and Jump.

The study is being overseen by Jeff Taylor, the manager of the Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit with Austin Public Health. He’s joined by three epidemiologists from the CDC who will focus on severe injuries that occurred to e-scooter riders in Austin. The study has already completed the data collection process and is now being summarized for a final report.

Preliminary observations from the study found that the vast majority of injuries — 98 percent of them — happen to riders who aren’t wearing helmets. Nearly half of all riders involved in accidents had a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit and 52 percent tested positive for use of an illicit substance. Taylor noted that while many people believe accidents occur at night, they happen at all hours of the day. They also rarely involve another vehicle.

Electric scooter injuries have been the subject of a number of recent studies, including a Consumer Reports investigation that found there were at least 1,500 people treated for scooter-involved injuries in the US over the last year. Still, companies like Lime and Bird have rapidly expanded their presence in major cities in the US, Canada and the UK. Engadget reached out to Lime and Bird to find out if either company is cooperating with the study. We will update this story if we hear back.