DOT says people are generally happy with controversial Queens e-scooter pilot
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The City Council’s Committee on Transportation, led by Queens City Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, questioned the Department of Transportation on Wednesday about its controversial e-scooter program in Queens. Photo by Council Media Unit
By Ryan Schwach
During a hearing before the City Council which seemingly pertained to anything on wheels, the Department of Transportation praised its e-scooter program in Queens, which has taken some heat from locals.
The DOT, which facilitates the program through three private companies, highlighted the program’s ridership numbers and absence of real safety concerns before the Council Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Wednesday.
“We've seen a robust response,” said DOT Assistant Commissioner for Policy Will Carry when questioned about the program by Queens Councilmember and Committee Chair Selvena Brooks-Powers.
“We've seen a lot of people using the service, and we're heartened by that,” he added.
According to the DOT, the program covers 1.2 million New Yorkers in Queens and the Bronx, and has around 260,000 active users who have taken 6.1 million trips since the program was launched in Queens this year.
“We've had 650,000 trips and over 40,000 new accounts created from residents of the new expansion area [in Queens],” Carry added.
But the scooter program has received some criticism from locals and elected officials in Eastern and Southeastern Queens where it operates.
Officials, which include City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, have expressed concerns about the scooters being littered indiscriminately on curbs and sidewalks, and the overall speed of the vehicles.
As a solution, the DOT said Wednesday that it was planning to install new bike corrals to help organize the scooters and keep them from being strewn across the sidewalk and homeowners’ yards.
“We are hearing from you, from your constituents, from others in the community, about concerns that scooters are often not parked correctly, and we remain committed to working with the community and with the companies to make improvements,” Carry said.
Regardless, Queens locals may be seeing less of the bikes over the next couple of months as the companies that operate them reduce the active fleet during the winter months, DOT said.
The hearing, which went over three hours on Wednesday, was convened to discuss several pieces of legislation, including a bill introduced by Queens Councilmember Bob Holden which would require the licensing and registering of all electric bikes and scooters in the city.
Holden and the backers of the bill, which currently include the majority of the Council, claim the bill will make the streets safer.
“The lack of oversight on e-mobility devices has made our streets less safe for everyone, pedestrians, cyclists, and even the riders themselves,” Holden said from the Council Chambers on Wednesday. “If you're involved in an accident, your license plate will ensure you don't flee the scene, and if you do, you can and will be identified. This is not about punishment. It's about responsibility.”
Opponents of the bill, which currently includes the Department of Transportation itself, worry that the bill would increase police encounters with riders, many of whom are immigrants, and would discourage others from getting out of their cars and into the alternate forms of transportation.
“The bill is a bureaucratic nightmare that does not address the very real safety issues on our streets,” said Elizabeth Adams, the deputy executive director for Public Affairs at Transportation Alternatives. “Instead, [the bill] will lead to the over-policing of New Yorkers of color, while stopping the widespread adoption of environmentally-friendly e-bikes.”
