Queensboro Bridge (NYCDOT Flickr)
Sept. 20, 2021 By Allie Griffin
The New York City Department of Transportation has banned Revel scooters from the Queensboro Bridge, the agency confirmed Monday.
The DOT informed the scooter-sharing app that it must end its users’ short-lived access to the bridge following safety concerns.
In July, Revel permitted its riders with more than 25 miles of experience on its mopeds to use to the Queensboro Bridge and Manhattan Bridge roadways. However, Revel sent out a message to users Friday stating that riding over the bridges was once again forbidden — effective immediately — due to the DOT’s request, according to the New York Post.
“Safety is our top priority, and as part of our working relationship with Revel, we communicated safety concerns about the policy change the company had made,” a DOT spokesperson told the Queens Post.
The shared bicycle and pedestrian pathway on the north side of the Queensboro Bridge. Some Revel riders have been using it illegally. (Photo: Queens Post)
The spokesperson cited two main issues about the mopeds crossing bridges.
He said that the Revel scooters cannot keep up with traffic on the bridges’ roadways. The speed limit on each bridge is 35 miles per hour — with traffic sometimes moving faster — and Revel scooters can only reach up to 28 miles per hour.
“There is a risk for crashes with faster moving cars,” the spokesperson said.
The DOT also said that Revel users have illegally crossed the two bridges via bike and pedestrian pathways on the spans. Mopeds are not permitted on bike and pedestrian paths as they can create “a serious safety risk to cyclists and pedestrians,” according to the agency.
“As a result, we asked Revel to reverse the policy, and they complied,” the DOT said. “We look forward to continuing to work with Revel and other e-moped services to ensure the safety of their riders and all street users.”
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3 Comments
This would be great… if the city actually enforced any bike lane laws. I love riding my bike everywhere, but it’s incredibly frustrating when cyclists/people on scooters or mopeds just do whatever they want because they don’t think the rules apply to them (including bicycle shaped STOP lights). When cyclists/scooter riders do whatever they want it makes annoys drivers (which makes the road more dangerous for everyone) and pedestrians (who can be seriously injured… like the 4 year old who was put into the hospital by a reckless rider).
These rules don’t make any difference if they aren’t enforced.
The Revel and Lime riders as well as the privately owned mopeds ride across the bridge’s bike lanes at 25 mph or more – generally faster than the cars in the car lanes. They are a menace to people on regular bikes as well as people who are just walking across the bridge.
Lots and lots of scooters/mopeds on the 59th St Bridge bike lane – recently mostly scooter sharing app LIME and plenty of privately owned scooters, both electric and gas powered. Even people with 2 stroke gas powered mopeds which have been banned for many years due to their creating 8x as much pollution as an average car or truck.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/that-ear-splitting-leaf-blower-it-also-emits-more-pollution-than-a-car-1513346400
The mopeds go in the bike lanes at 25-30mph within inches of pedestrians and pedal bike riders.