New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) announced Thursday, Aug. 12, the official launch of the city’s e-scooter pilot program in the East Bronx. Bird, Lime and Veo, the three companies participating in the pilot program, will bring up to 3,000 e-scooters to the East Bronx during Phase 1 which starts Tuesday, Aug. 17, with an increase to as many as 6,000 in the second phase next year.

 

According to DOT officials, both the department and each e-scooter company underwent an extensive community engagement process to locate sites for the e-scooter parking corrals and to educate the public about the pilot program, including its safety, equity, and accessibility components. They said, “These included dozens of meetings with community boards, local BIDs, nearby medical facilities, and more.”

 

In reference to the launch, DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman said it was exciting to officially bring shared micro mobility to the East Bronx community. “With safety as our top priority, we look forward to a continued collaboration with Bird, Lime and Veo, elected officials and local Bronx communities to make e-scooter share an effective, convenient, and equitable way to get around,” he said.

 

Bird founder and CEO, Travis VanderZanden said his company thanked DOT for its “leadership and embrace of shared micromobility.” He added, “We are honored to partner with DOT, community groups and many others to provide New York City with Bird’s safe, equitable and accessible eco-friendly transportation service.”

 

Lime CEO Wayne Ting said Lime was also honored and grateful to have the opportunity to serve New York City once again and said the company was thrilled that its shared electric scooters will be hitting the streets of the East Bronx next week. “We’ve spent years working to get to this point, focusing on community outreach and establishing trust, and we look forward to continuing to earn the trust of all New Yorkers by running a safe, equitable, and sustainable operation that shows the potential of micro mobility in the greatest city on earth, Ting said.

 

He went on to applaud those in City government for what he called their vision in creating the program and for their commitment to building the bike lanes and safe streets infrastructure to go along with it. “Our scooters will provide East Bronx residents and visitors with a safe, accessible, and equitable way to get around their neighborhoods that reduces congestion and connects people to subway stations and bus stops that are all too often too far away,” Ting said.

 

For her part, Candice Xie, CEO of Veo said being part of New York City’s e-scooter pilot program was a privilege, and a great opportunity for Veo to support the City’s efforts to increase accessibility and equity in the East Bronx. “Our diverse fleet of stand-up,  and seated, and ADA-accessible scooters feature industry-leading safety technology, and will provide residents and visitors of the Bronx with the new, safe, and affordable transportation options that are needed now more than ever as the City continues to reopen,” she said.

 

Xie continued, “As this pilot program grows over the next two years, we look forward to supporting NYC DOT’s ambitious commitment to adding new bike lanes in the area to enhance safety and mobility for all riders. Our team will be available over the next couple of weeks to meet users at corrals and help acclimate them to the e-scooters provide education on safe riding.”

 

Not everyone is on board with the e-scooter program, however. Roxanne Delgado, founder of the community organization, Friends of Pelham Parkway, recently wrote an op-ed published in the Norwood News, in which she described what she viewed as lack of preparation on the part of DOT for the e-scooter program, as well as other safety and environmental concerns.

E-Scooter Share Pilot Details

As previously reported, mandated by City Council legislation passed in 2020, the city’s e-scooter pilot is expected to offer a new shared mobility option in the eastern Bronx pilot zone. In Phase I, this year, neighborhoods from Eastchester and Co-op City to Morris Park are included. In 2022, Phase 2 will include neighborhoods farther south, including Throggs Neck and Soundview. In total, the zone is an 18 square-mile area home to a diverse population of 570,000 residents, including 25,000 NYCHA residents.

 

DOT representatives said community meetings over the last few months have also led to the installation of nearly 90 e-scooter corrals on busy corridors within the pilot zone. Riders wanting to park in areas with corrals must return their e-scooter to a corral. In other parts of the zone, riders can park on the sidewalk, against the curb, and out of the pedestrian path of travel. The corral locations are available in online maps for each of the three Community Boards served by the pilot.

 

In addition to community engagement, DOT said Bird, Lime and Veo have also collectively held almost 15 demonstrations (serving more than 100 potential customers) and given away dozens of helmets, which are strongly encouraged, though not legally required, for riders.

 

The pilot program is a result of a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) issued by DOT in October 2020 and the pilot zones were designed to not overlap with neighborhoods targeted by Citi Bike, as part of the bike share company’s current expansion plan. The pilot service area will also be geo-fenced to prevent e-scooters from leaving.

 

DOT said companies were evaluated on past performance elsewhere, as well as RFEI questionnaire responses about equipment, accessible options, pricing, equity policies and discounts, features, and a launch schedule. Each of the companies has shown a sizeable presence in other American cities and had the highest performances measured in the evaluation process. Among the selected companies, Lime already had experience in New York City, having participated in the City’s dockless bike share pilot in the Rockaways and on Staten Island during 2018 and 2019.

 

DOT said both the department and each selected company have entered into demonstration agreements that require high standards and allow for strong enforcement mechanisms governing service provision and operator performance. DOT officials said the pilot program will allow DOT to test a variety of strategies to manage sidewalk clutter, including dedicated parking corrals and using real time e-scooter data to ensure parking compliance.

 

The department will complete an evaluation of the pilot that will examine usage, trip patterns, safety, e-scooter parking behavior, system accessibility and other factors. DOT officials said the agency will evaluate the pilot on how well it is providing equitable coverage across the entire pilot zone, with explicit requirements that companies also adhere to DOT’s Vision Zero safety goals. According to DOT, some safety and accessibility features include:

• in-app safety tests for new riders;
• a “beginner mode” which requires that a user’s first 30 minutes of trips are limited to 10mph and cannot occur in darkness or overnight;
• voluntary socially distanced in-person lessons;
• a rider accountability policy to prevent underage riding;
• accessible vehicle options, such as seated scooters and wheelchair attachments; and
• regular meetings with DOT, MOPD, and disability groups on accessibility issues.

 

E-scooters in the pilot program can only be unlocked using each company’s smartphone app and are limited to riders aged 18 and older. When announced in April as the participating companies, Bird, Lime and Veo unveiled pricing plans that would allow most rides for under $5. All three companies said they will provide discounted pricing for low-income New Yorkers enrolled in federal and state assistance programs. The companies have priced their scooters at the following rates:

• Veo: $1 to unlock and $0.39 per minute
• Lime: $1 to unlock and $0.30 per minute
• Bird: $1 to unlock and $0.39 per minute

 

The three companies said they have also hired locally, and have guaranteed a range of consumer and labor protections. Further community enhancing measures include:

• providing additional in-app language options other than English;
• engaging with the disability community on accessible options;
• stationing employees at corral locations to educate the public and address operational issues during rollout;
• offering customer agreements with no binding arbitration or class action waiver provisions;
• hiring salaried employees, with no “gig labor” permitted.

 

Meanwhile, Danny Harris, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, said bringing micro mobility to the East Bronx will shorten commutes, support local businesses, and shift the City towards a future that is less reliant on cars. “We are looking forward to the scooter pilot launching this month as well as the upcoming, previously-announced protected bike lanes for the East Bronx,” he said. “One of the best ways to ensure the pilot is a success is by building out more protected on-street infrastructure, and we will continue to work with community members, elected officials and the NYC DOT team to ensure these life-saving projects advance without delay.”

 

DOT officials said toward the end of the two-year pilot program, it will issue a legally mandated report that will include agency recommendations on the future of the program.