NYC DOT and e-scooter companies Bird, Lime and Veo, will work with local communities to site e-scooter parking corrals and educate the public about the pilot.
New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) has selected three companies for the city’s first electric scooter pilot in eastern Bronx. DOT has also unveiled its plans for new bike lanes to enhance safety and mobility.
The pilot, which was mandated by city council legislation passed in 2020, is entering the community engagement phase, in which DOT and e-scooter companies Bird, Lime and Veo, will work with local communities to site e-scooter parking corrals and educate the public about the pilot, including its safety, equity, and accessibility components.
Phase one area
DOT reports that by early summer, e-scooters are expected to be on the streets of the pilot’s phase one area.
“Building on the lessons learned across the country, we are proud to bring e-scooter share to a large portion of the Bronx – an area with a population larger than most American cities,” said DOT commissioner, Hank Gutman.
“We now welcome Bird, Lime and Veo – and we look forward to working closely with them, elected officials and local Bronx communities to make e-scooter share an effective, convenient and most important, safe way to get around by this summer.”
E-scooters are expected offer a new shared mobility option in the eastern Bronx pilot zone. In phase one this year, neighbourhoods from Eastchester and Co-op City to Morris Park are included. In 2022, phase two will include neighbourhoods further 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.
The pilot is a result of a request for expressions of interest (RFEI) issued by DOT in October 2020. It is estimated to initially bring up to 3,000 e-scooters to the East Bronx during phase one with an increase to as many as 6,000 in the second phase. The zone was designed to not overlap with Bronx neighbourhoods targeted by Citi Bike as part of the bike share company’s current expansion plan.
Inclusive approach
New York is putting the disability community at the forefront of emerging new transit modes, such as micro-mobility, and aims to be a model for other cities around the world. The Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities’ (MOPD) commissioner Victor Calise, said MOPD worked closely with DOT to ensure that accessible options, including first-of-its-kind wheelchair attachments, were part of the selected companies’ fleets.
“Additionally, we know that improperly parked e-scooters could lead to sidewalk clutter so we are going to work diligently to ensure that vendors follow protocols that keep paths of travel clear for everyone,” said Calise.
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.
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Quelle/Source: Smart Cities World, 16.04.2021
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