As Albany's former bicycling council member, I often left City Hall on my bike and pedaled home to Pine Hills. Many nights, given the weight of my backpack, it was too difficult to pedal uphill, so I walked to Swan Street before I started pedaling.

The New York Bicycling Coalition recently held a low-speed pedal-assist electric bicycle demonstration. These e-bikes look and function like traditional bicycles. Each bike has a small, silent electric motor that provides a boost upon request. The motor shuts off when the operator stops pedaling or if the bike reaches 20 mph.

Pedal-assist e-bikes are a viable green transportation option. Studies show that they provide important health and exercise benefits, especially for people who were previously sedentary. E-bikes also allow people to ride farther distances than traditional bicycles, and are great for commuting. E-bike sales are the fastest-growing sector of the bike industry and are beloved by aging baby boomers who want to stay active.

E-bikes are defined in federal law, and are legal to sell here, but not yet defined or regulated in state law. New York City's Department of Transportation just concluded a rulemaking process to allow low-speed pedal-assist e-bikes on New York City streets. This is a step forward for food delivery workers there who depend on e-bikes for their livelihood, and for the city's bikeshare program, Citibike, along with new dockless bikeshare systems planning to incorporate pedal-assist e-bikes into their fleets this summer.

Our region's bikeshare system, CDPHP Cycle, exceeded expectations with its 2017 launch, and is off to a strong start in 2018. But the number of people using the bicycles for uphill trips is tiny. My guess is that if e-bikes were part of our CDPHP Cycle fleet, we'd see a notable increase in uphill bikeshare trips, providing increased mobility at an affordable price for more people.

Low-speed pedal assist e-bikes are being rolled out in bikeshare systems across the country. In New York state, pending legislation (A7791C/S6029C), which closely aligns with the New York City rules, would define and regulate pedal assist e-bikes. The state Legislature should act now so the rest of our state isn't left behind.

Leah Golby is the board president of the New York Bicycling Coalition; she served on the Albany Common Council from 2010 to 2017.