Queens Pols Have Lots of Claims About the Evils of Scooter-Share, But Few Facts

Lawmakers in Northeast Queens pedaled a series of false claims as part of a larger effort to end the borough’s e-scooter program, saying the micro-mobility devices are dangerous and unpopular — a claim that is counter to city data showing the program is safe and thriving.

The Queens program started on June 17, after the success of a similar 2021 Bronx pilot, which is now permanent. Three companies – Lime, Veo, and Bird – each operate 2,000 scooters in a 20-square mile area east of the Van Wyck Expressway that comprises Flushing, Auburndale, Rochdale Village and Springfield Gardens. 

The pols expressed anger and frustration with the Department of Transportation, claiming the agency refused to show up to an “E-Scooter Town Hall” and hasn’t done sufficient outreach.

“DOT, the government that we all pay to listen to us when we have valid concerns, decided they didn’t want to come [to the town hall],” said Council Member James Gennaro, who was joined at the press conference by his Council colleague Sandra Ung, Assembly members Sam Berger and David Weprin, and the chair of Community Board 8 at Monday’s presser. “The program, as designed, leads to chaos. We have them all over our community in the middle of the sidewalk. Any benefit that these scooters provide is more than overshadowed by the detrimental impacts of these vehicles.” 

Gennaro also claimed that e-scooters in the program can go 25 miles per hour, which is not true. In fact, top speed is 15 miles per hour, slower than an electric Citi Bike.

Weprin claimed he did not know the program was coming to Queens until he saw the scooters on the sidewalk, thought that is a comment on Weprin’s ignorance, given that multiple outlets, including Streetsblog (twice!) covered the coming pilot.

CB8 Chair Martha Taylor also claimed that there had been no engagement with her board before the program began, but the Transportation Department presented it to CB 8 on Dec. 11, 2023 and again on May 24.

A Transportation Department representative told Streetsblog that DOT has conducted extensive community outreach, citing 35 briefings with stakeholders, and offered to brief Weprin multiple times between June 2023 and May 2024. 

The lawmakers raised the common complaint that scooters end up clustered in pedestrian space, including on narrow sidewalks, but that issue was lost in the exaggerated delirium over perceptions of danger that are not borne out by fact, and claims that the program is unpopular.

In fact, the Queens e-scooter program already has tens of thousands of users and is helping to connect people to mass transit, according to tracking data from the DOT. 

“We’ve already seen 37,000 unique rider accounts take more than 290,000 trips since we launched in late June,” said agency spokesman Vin Barone. “The average [scooter] trip in Queens is just over one mile and the vast majority of trips start and end in the same neighborhood, illustrating that the scooters are fulfilling an important role in connecting residents to mass transit and other important local destinations.”

The e-scooter program in the Bronx, and now in Queens, has also been safe, with no reported serious injuries or deaths since the first e-scooters arrived in New York City, according to the DOT. Even so, the politicians maintained that they believed the program was dangerous, each one of them reiterating that their constituents are concerned about the hazards associated with the scooters.

“I don’t want them in this district because of the hazards that they pose,” said Gennaro.

Ung announced a bill last week seeking to ban the current e-scooter program, calling the legislation a last resort to get the city to take her and her community’s concerns about the program seriously. Gennaro said he supports the bill, but it has only one other Council co-sponsor, Lynn Schulman.

E-scooter parking has been an issue throughout the program in the Bronx, the DOT found that during the pilot 24 percent of scooters were incorrectly parked. In more densely populated areas, like Ung’s district in Flushing, there are designated corrals; users can’t end the ride unless it is in the right place.

In the less-dense zones, like Gennaro’s district, users can leave their scooters in the “furniture zone” of the sidewalk. 

Lime, one of the companies that operates scooters in Queens, says it will spend $2.5 million on revamping and hiring for its “foot patrol” team, which deals with improperly parked scooters. The company sees the program’s high number of users as a sign that demand is high, and it is looking to work with the local pols on addressing their concerns. 

“The data makes it clear that sustainable first and last-mile transportation options are in high demand in eastern Queens,” said Nicole Yearwood, senior manager of government relations at Lime in an emailed statement. “We are investing millions of dollars, including to hire local, Queens-based staff, to ensure that strong demand for shared e-scooters is paired with a robust operations team to keep streets tidy.”