In 2017, shared electric scooters were first put on the streets of American cities amid controversy. They have since become commonplace in many places. But venture-backed scooter startups have been shut out of New York, the largest mobility market in the United States. In 2020, a state law approved the form of transportation in New York, except in Manhattan. Soon after, the city approved the scooter company to operate.
These “mini” vehicles “flickered” in New York, and the city’s traffic conditions were disrupted by the epidemic. New York’s subway passenger traffic once reached 5.5 million passengers in one day, but in the spring of 2020, this value plummeted to less than 1 million passengers. For the first time in more than 100 years, it was shut down overnight. In addition, New York Transit — by far the largest public transit system in the United States — cut ridership in half.
But amid the murky prospects for public transportation, micromobility — the field of light personal transportation — is experiencing something of a renaissance. In the first few months of the outbreak, Citi Bike, the world’s largest shared bicycle project, set a usage record. In April 2021, the blue-green bicycle-sharing battle between Revel and Lime began. Revel’s neon blue bike locks are now unlocked in four New York boroughs. With the expansion of the outdoor transportation market, the “bicycle craze” for private sales under the epidemic has triggered a frenzy of sales of electric bicycles and electric scooters. Some 65,000 employees deliver on e-bikes, maintaining the city’s food delivery system during the lockdown.
Stick your head out of any window in New York and you’ll see all sorts of people on two-wheeled scooters zipping through the streets. However, as transportation models solidify in the post-pandemic world, is there room for e-scooters on the city’s notoriously congested streets?
Aiming at the “desert zone” of transportation
The answer depends on how electric scooters perform in the Bronx, New York, where commuting is difficult.
In the first phase of the pilot, New York plans to deploy 3,000 electric scooters on a large area (18 square kilometers to be precise), covering the city from the border with Westchester County (Westchester County) The area between the Bronx Zoo and Pelham Bay Park to the east. The city says it has 570,000 permanent residents. By the second phase in 2022, New York may move the pilot area southward and put in another 3,000 scooters.
The Bronx has the third-highest car ownership in the city, accounting for about 40 percent of residents, behind Staten Island and Queens. But in the east, it’s closer to 80 percent.
“The Bronx is a transportation desert,” Russell Murphy, Lime’s senior director of corporate communications, said at a presentation. No problem. You can’t move without a car here.”
For electric scooters to become a climate-friendly mobility option, it is crucial that they replace cars. “New York has taken this path with deliberation. We have to show that it works.”
Google—Allen 08:47:24
Fairness
The South Bronx, which borders the second phase of the electric scooter pilot area, has the highest rate of asthma in the United States and is the poorest constituency. The scooters will be deployed in a district where 80 percent of residents are black or Latino, and how to address equity issues is still up for debate. Riding a scooter is not cheap compared to taking the bus or subway. A Bird or Veo scooter costs $1 to unlock and 39 cents a minute to ride. Lime scooters cost the same to unlock, but only 30 cents a minute.
As a way of giving back to society, scooter companies offer discounts to users who receive federal or state relief. After all, about 25,000 residents in the area live in public housing.
Sarah Kaufman, deputy director of the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation and an electric scooter enthusiast, believes that although scooters are expensive, sharing is a more convenient option than private purchases. “The sharing model gives more people the opportunity to use scooters, who might not be able to spend hundreds of dollars to buy one themselves.” “With a one-time payment, people can more afford it.”
Kaufman said the Bronx is rarely the first to catch up with New York’s development opportunities—it took six years for Citi Bike to enter the borough. She is also concerned about safety issues, but believes that scooters can really help people complete the “last mile”.
“People do need micro-mobility now, which is more socially distanced and more sustainable than what we’ve been using before,” she said. The car is extremely flexible and allows people to travel in different traffic scenarios, and it will definitely play a role in this city.”
Post time: Dec-20-2022