June 28–July 4, 2019 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 AWP 3
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They see us rolling
Trying out new scooter rentals on boro’s mean streets
Our intrepid reporter hits the road.
they were everywhere!
“They’re all over the place
— they’re like fleas,” said
Dumbo resident Steve West,
who stood outside his tavern,
the 68 Jay Street Bar.
Much like Brooklyn’s other
blue bike-share program,
CitiBike, Revel scooters are
available to rent via app, costing
$1 to unlock, with an additional
25c-per-minute fee.
The scooters can be dropped
off at any legal parking spot
within the company’s home
zone, which covers most parts
of the aforementioned neighborhoods.
Would-be riders must be
21 years or older, and Revel
requires a valid driver’s license
on sign up. The scooters
do not require any special
permits to operate, and Department
of Motor Vehicles
classifies the bikes as “limited
use motorcycles” due to
their low speed, which — in
this case — tops out at around
30 mph.
And, in the interest of
bringing Brooklyn Paper
readers the full story, this reporter
— who hasn’t driven
in years, and has never ridden
Photo by Trey Pentecost
at low speeds toward
his latest byline:
My first surprise came during
the application process.
Revel had accepted my Irish
driver’s license — don’t tell
them we drive on the other
side of the road!
I’d never driven a motorcycle
before either, and while
the company offers free driving
lessons, there was no time
for that — I had a deadline to
keep. I ignored another call
from my editor, found an underpowered
ride, and cupped
my ears to the sound of silence
as the scooters electric motor
whispered to life. Soon I was
zooming through the streets
at speeds resembling a brisk
jog. Sluggishness had never
been so thrilling.
I immediately gunned toward
the traffic maelstrom
of Grand Army Plaza, taking
several laps around Brooklyn’s
Arc de Triomphe, and as
I leaned into the roundabout
surrounding Kings County’s
ode to classical architecture, I
found myself transported back
to the old country, where cars
are far and few between, and
Vespas reign supreme on the
narrow, cobble-paved streets
of my youth. And just as I felt
safe, my revelry was shaken
by the cold hard realities of
American capitalism, manifested
in the form of a 20-
ton box truck careening mere
inches off my right side. These
weren’t the cycle safe streets
of Europe — these were the
mean streets of Brooklyn.
I was terrified out there,
alone among the heavyweight
SUVs cutting into my lane
on the busy roundabout. But,
once I got to calmer streets,
most drivers kept their distance,
while gawking curiously
at this alien means of
transit.
I met a handful other Revelers
along the way, along with
several interested Brooklynites,
including one Kings
County barkeep, who hadn’t
quite made up his mind about
these newfangled scooters.
“They really don’t know
how to park them, because
a lot of people don’t know
how to ride motorcycles,” said
West. ”This is their first experience.
I’ve had to help people
out many times trying to
park these things.”
A senior rep from the company
told me they’ve instituted
a few new safety policies since
the pilot aired, including cutting
service between midnight
and 5 a.m., and issuing fines
that range from $5 to $500 for
bad behavior.
“We unfortunately had an
incident last week in McGolrick
Park,” said the company’s
New York City general manager
Lauren Vriens. “There
were multiple reports that
there were seven users riding
through the park and yelling
at pedestrians and causing
a lot of havoc.”
And, while service remains
in its infancy, Vriens claims
that a brief adjustment period
should be expected with any
new transit infrastructure, and
that people will soon be scooting
along as if they were born
in the saddle.
“It’s only been a month, but
we might see better behavior
in the future. I think it will
get better,” she said.
a motorcycle — signed
up for Revel’s app and puttered
By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
It’s time to scoot over
Brooklyn!
A Bushwick-based transit
business unleashed hundreds
of low-powered motorbikes
onto the streets of northern
Brooklyn earlier this month,
making the sight of blue-colored
scooters near ubiquitous
overnight. But where did these
crazy scooters come from?
How does it all work, and what
are they like to ride? This reporter
hit the streets — literally
— and snagged what’s
possibly the biggest scoot of
his career!
Revel Transit’s so-called
“shareable” mopeds debuted
in August , when the firm installed
68 scooters in Bushwick,
Williamsburg, Greenpoint
and parts of Queens.
That pilot period proceeded
a rapid expansion that kicked
off on May 29, when the transit
firm parked an additional
1,000 bikes in 14 Brooklyn
neighborhoods — including
Park Slope, Gowanus,
Red Hook, Dumbo, Downtown
Brooklyn, Cobble Hill,
Carroll Gardens, Windsor
Terrace, Clinton Hill, Fort
Greene, Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Heights, Prospect Heights
and Bedford Stuyvesant
The company’s founder
hopes that Brooklyn won’t
be too alarmed by the sudden
proliferation of scooters,
saying his bikes will provide
stressed out straphangers with
a breezy, fun, and fast transit
alternative.
“We are thrilled to bring
a fun and easy way to get
around more of Brooklyn
and Queens,” said company
co-founder Frank Reig. “During
the nine-month pilot, we
learned what worked well,
what needed fixing, and what
users wanted from the service
going forward, and we took
those lessons to improve the
service for everyone.”
But that may be wishful
thinking, according to
one Dumbo man, who said
that one day the streets were
scooter free, and the next day
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