Scooter wars: Speaker wants city to press ‘pause’ on scooter share program
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Queens officials on Friday called for a pause on the city’s e-scooter sharing program, citing safety concerns with the two-wheel vehicles. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
Queens officials are calling for the city Department of Transportation to put a temporary “pause” on an electric scooter sharing program it recently rolled out in several Queens neighborhoods, which the officials claim has proven to be unsafe.
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and State Senator Leroy Comrie joined Jamaica locals on Friday in asking the DOT to pause the program, calling its rollout “dysfunctional.”
Adams and Comrie add to the growing calls for the city to reform the program, which the DOT says was designed to help give residents living in transit deserts a last-mile transit option. They join a group of Queens elected officials further north on the Cross Island Expressway – a group that included Councilmembers Jim Gennaro and Sandra Ung – in calling for the city to address their community’s concerns with the program.
The program – which is operated by three private companies Lime, Bird and Veo, but facilitated by the DOT – brought e-scooters to streets in Queens this June, following what the agency said was a successful pilot in the Bronx.
However, upon the program’s arrival in the World’s Borough, local opinions soured. Officials and some residents said they were upset that the scooters were often left unattended on sidewalks and on private property, and that they worried about teens using the scooters irresponsibly.
“Our constituents have consistently raised questions and concerns about the safety hazards that are created when e-scooters are left with reckless abandon on our sidewalks and in front of homes, driveways and small businesses, senior centers, places of worship and beyond,” Adams said on Sutphin Boulevard on Friday. “These frequent obstructions, which we have seen throughout Southeastern Queens, have real safety impacts on our residents who simply want to enter their homes, cross the street or get to their next destination.”
Adams and Comrie also said they have seen and heard reports of kids and teens using the scooters unsafely.
“This should have been done better,” Comrie said.
On Thursday, Adams sent a letter to DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez calling for a pause to the program, in order to address the community’s concerns.
“There must be clear guidelines,” she said. “We don't think that's too much to ask.”
“It is the DOT’s responsibility to monitor the practices of Lime, Bird and Veo,” Adams added. “The city agency that is overseeing this program must actively lead efforts to address safety concerns and hold the companies accountable when they fall short.”
However, Adams is not explicitly calling for the complete halt of the program, and even expressed some admiration about the high ridership numbers, particularly in communities that lack reliable transportation options.
“We want our residents to have modes of transportation, who wouldn't?” she said. “We actually admire the numbers of the folks that are riding the scooters. But the rollout was wrong, it's chaotic.”
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and State Senator Leroy Comrie join a group of Queens officials further north looking for some concessions on the city’s e-scooter program. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
Adams argued that the plan was “ill-conceived” and lacked organization, as well as community support.
“We are not against modes of transportation coming into Southeast Queens and transit deserts,” she said. “What we are against is not having our voices heard in an organized fashion.”
Adams and Comrie both said that the city also needs to address bus reliability issues, and increase service on Downtown Jamaica bus routes.
While they did not specify how long they wanted the pause to be, the officials had a list for what might have to happen in order for them to welcome back the scooters with open arms.
“They got to sit down with communities and go over spots that are safe, they got to make sure that there's limiters on the e-scooters so that they shut off automatically when they're off route,” Comrie said, also adding the need for some kind of age verification.
Adams also called for an increased number of corrals, infrastructure that forces the scooters to be taken and dropped off in specified places, like Citi bikes corrals.
“Had that happened in the beginning, we would not be standing here before you today with a myriad of issues,” Adams said.
In other parts of Queens, Flushing Councilmember Sandra Ung introduced legislation to banish the scooters entirely from her already crowded district.
Ung and several colleagues rallied against the scooters in Fresh Meadows last month, citing nearly identical concerns.
“I absolutely agree with Speaker Adams in her assessment on the issues the shared e-scooter program is causing in communities across eastern Queens,” Ung said in a statement to the Eagle on Friday. “I have heard from many constituents who are experiencing the same issues.”
Adams, however, did not seem keen on supporting similar legislation for Downtown Jamaica.
“We are not calling for stopping the program, that's not what this is,” the speaker said when asked if she would endorse Ung’s legislation or bring up her own. “I'm dealing with Southeast Queens. This is my community. This is where we live, and this is what we're dealing with today.”
In response to the pushback and Adams’ letter to DOT, the agency and the private companies have cited successful ridership numbers.
According to DOT, there have been 500,000 trips on the scooters in Queens since the launch in June.
“Our e-scooter sharing program in Southeast Queens and Flushing builds on the overwhelming success we’ve seen with our operations in the East Bronx,” said DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone. “This expansion into Queens provides critical connections to major transportation and commercial hubs for roughly 600,000 residents—and we are committed to working with companies to make service improvements, including the installation of additional scooter corrals to better organize parking.”
Officials across Queens have said they don’t like e-scooters being left at random on curbs and sidewalks.Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
A good portion of those rides are commuters using them to make up for gaps in the pre-existing public transit system. There have also been limited reports of any injuries related to the scooters’ use, or of them being left on sidewalks and property.
Transportation activists are also pushing for continued use and expansion of the program.
Transportation non-profit Transportation Alternatives has an active portal where users can send letters to councilmembers in support of the scooters.
“Instead of rolling back new types of mobility, we should be redesigning our streets and adapting transit systems to encourage New Yorkers to choose sustainable ways to get around,” the organization said.
