Lawmakers worry that scooters are too dangerous, especially in Manhattan, where cars, pedestrians and cyclists already compete for limited street space. Photo / Bryan Anselm, The New York Times
Lawmakers worry that scooters are too dangerous, especially in Manhattan, where cars, pedestrians and cyclists already compete for limited street space.
When Helmis Ortega visited Atlanta not long ago, he toured the city on an electric scooter. Once back in New York City, he was struck by the scooter-free streets.
"It blew my mind," said Ortega, a paralegal who lives in Upper Manhattan. "How do we not have this here?"
The answer is simple: Officials do not believe the biggest — and most crowded — city in the country is ready for scooters.
Companies like Bird and Lime that rent scooters in other cities have stayed away from New York because the devices are technically illegal. Rule breakers could get hit with a $500 fine or have their scooter confiscated.
So New Yorkers, long proud of their status as cultural trendsetters on everything from fashion to Cronuts, have been left out of the scooter craze sweeping the nation.
Electric scooters have appeared in dozens of cities — from Los Angeles to Washington and across the Midwest — winning plenty of fans and at least as many enemies who view them as a nuisance. They are a cheap way to get around, for fun or commuting, and are faster than walking and more enjoyable than sitting in traffic.
The devices recently became legal in New Jersey, where they have already flooded the streets of Hoboken, just across the Hudson River. But it appears that electric scooters are unlikely to arrive in New York City anytime soon.
Leaders in New York are reluctant to change the law and worry that scooters are too dangerous, especially in an increasingly congested Manhattan where cars, pedestrians and cyclists are already competing for limited street space.
An unfortunate spill by Corey Johnson, the City Council speaker, in Mexico City did not help the cause. He rented a Lime scooter on vacation in April and immediately "face planted," leaving him covered with black grime from the street and nursing a few scrapes.
Johnson said in an interview that scooters were "absolutely fun," but that they were better suited for a quiet suburb.
"We're New York, and I have real concerns about people getting injured," he said.
For scooters to hit the streets of New York, the state Legislature and the City Council would probably have to approve new rules — a difficult task when leaders are already quarrelling over other thorny issues like marijuana legalisation and rent regulation.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is known to work out on a stationary bike at the gym, has scoffed at the idea of riding a scooter.
"I just don't like the idea personally, because I'm like, 'If you're going to move around why are you not getting some exercise?'" the mayor told reporters last fall. "It seems really passive to me."
His lack of enthusiasm has not stopped rental companies from lobbying local leaders. The companies have spent at least US$475,000 on lobbying for electric scooters and bikes at the state and city level during the first four months of this year, according to state records. Bird and Jump Bikes, an Uber subsidiary, each spent at least US$100,000 on lobbying.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, a fan of muscle cars and motorcycles, wanted to legalise scooters at the state level as part of budget negotiations earlier this year, but state lawmakers were not on board.
Still, supporters are not giving up. State Senator Jessica Ramos, D-Queens, introduced legislation to allow scooters, with a public hearing scheduled for June 7.
"We're trying to have this conversation precisely because we're behind so many other big cities across the world, not just in this country," Ramos said in an interview. "We want to be able to offer residents environmentally friendly ways to get around."
Although the devices are banned, some people own private scooters and flout the rules. Sarah M. Kaufman, an urban planning professor at New York University, said she often sees electric scooters in Manhattan. She has used a Bird scooter, which the company gave her to try out, without getting in trouble.
"I've ridden it past police and they haven't said anything," she said. "It doesn't seem to be something that's being enforced."
City officials are concerned that an influx of scooters could lead to serious crashes. Two people died in the city last year while riding electric scooters, including a 7-year-old boy who was hit by a bus last May.
The boy, Shevon Bethea, was riding a children's electric Razor scooter, known as the E300 model, which can cost more than US$250, according to city officials. A Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus hit the boy in the Bronx, the police said. Broken pieces of his blue scooter were scattered across the street. The driver has not been charged.
Safety concerns have been an issue in other places. A recent study of scooter accidents in Austin, Texas, found that nearly half of the 190 riders injured there had suffered head injuries. Less than 1 per cent of riders were wearing a helmet when they were injured and nearly a third had been drinking alcohol, according to the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local officials. The authors recommended that the city educate riders about helmets and safe speeds.
Officials in New York reviewed that study and have taken a cautious approach to what some have called a "micro-mobility revolution" — the arrival not just of electric scooters, but also dockless electric bikes and other devices.
The city does allow some electric bikes, known as pedal-assist bicycles, which require a rider to pedal to activate an electric motor. But Citi Bike, the bike-share program, had to pull all 1,000 of its electric bikes off the city streets in April because of safety concerns about the brakes.
Bikes favoured by delivery workers — throttle-controlled electric bikes, which can travel faster than 30km/h — are illegal, a decision that has raised concerns over discrimination against a largely immigrant workforce. Ramos' bill would also allow local governments to set rules for delivery bikes.
De Blasio, a Democrat who is running for president, has taken a harsh stance against delivery bikes, though Johnson, the City Council speaker, supports making them legal.
Uber and Lyft, the titans of ride-hailing, are also competing to offer electric scooters and bikes across the country. Lyft bought Citi Bike last year, while Uber bought Jump Bikes.
"We look forward to giving all New Yorkers more access to green, car-free transportation like scooters and bikes on our platform," said Josh Gold, a spokesman for Uber. "Most importantly, we recognize it's past time the state address e-bikes, which are critical for delivery workers."
Bird, which offers scooters in more than 100 cities around the world, said it hoped lawmakers in New York would act soon.
"As an otherwise forward-thinking global leader, New York is behind on this issue and needs to catch up," said Paul Steely White, the former leader of Transportation Alternatives, a safety advocacy group, who now works for Bird.
Johnson, a Democrat who is expected to run for mayor in 2021, said that if state lawmakers legalised scooters, he would be open to the idea of a pilot program outside Manhattan.
"Maybe we could find certain neighbourhoods where we could pilot this — maybe out in the Rockaways and see what it's like on the boardwalk," he said.
But Liz Krueger, a powerful Democratic state senator from Manhattan, said legalising scooters did not have enough support in the current state legislative session, which ends on June 19. A 10-year-old boy on a scooter almost slammed into her recently, she said, reinforcing her opposition.
"I don't think there's any place for them on the streets of Manhattan," she said.
Written by: Emma G. Fitzsimmons
Photographs by: Bryan Anselm
© 2019 THE NEW YORK TIMES
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