opinion
BY ROXANNE DELGADO
Two months after New York
State legalized e-bikes and
e-scooters, the City Council
passed legislation, on June 5,
2020, to create a pilot program
for the operation of shared electric
scooters to exist for a duration
of no less than one year
and no more than two years.
Earlier this year, NYC Department
of Transportation (DOT)
announced the east Bronx
as the pilot zone and selected
three companies, Bird, Lime
and Veo to participate in the pilot
starting with 3,000 e-scooters.
Why NYC DOT chose an
area that lacks bike infrastructure
is so confusing.
NYC DOT proposed 24 escooter
corrals not fully installed
as of yet, according to
the agency, along a stretch of
Pelham Parkway. E-scooters
are allowed on streets with
speed limits no greater than 30
mph and usable bicycle lanes
provided. They can’t be ridden
on sidewalks. Pelham Parkway
has no bike lanes, and the
speed limit was recently reduced
from 30 mph to 25 mph
on Pelham Parkway from
White Plains Road to Stillwell
Avenue, since it was identifi ed
as one of the roadways having
some of the highest rates of
crashes in the city. This should
come as no surprise to many of
the residents of Pelham Parkway
who have not only heard
of these crashes but witnessed
them as well. So where can
these e-scooters be ridden legally
and safely, I and others
asked the DOT. Their response
was that Pelham Parkway has
a greenway that is accessible to
bicyclists and hence e-scooters.
Our greenway path is accessible
to bicyclists alongside
pedestrians, runners, walkers,
jogging, children playing,
mothers with strollers,
seniors, pet parents with their
dogs and the disabled community.
Our path is not dedicated
or reserved for bicyclists, and
is unmarked for solely such
use. Our unmarked path measures
between 9-10 feet wide
and is too narrow for an escooter
to travel safely side by
side within the path. There is
also no signage or lights directing
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,12 AUG. 13-19, 2021 BTR
pedestrians crossing
through the parkway from
north to south or vice versa on
several of the paths. Instead,
there are yellow signs in our
greenway prohibiting the use
of motorized or electric bikes,
scooter and ATVs.
Friends of Pelham Parkway,
founded in 2017, is made
up of residents and volunteers
that care for our greenway
through advocacy, cleanups,
tree care and planting. Our
concerns are the insuffi cient
number of park enforcement
patrol offi cers and their inability
to enforce since they can’t
chase after these motorized
and electric bikes or scooters
without endangering others
on the greenway. Also, we
can’t support a pilot that has
not been carefully planned,
had no community outreach,
no announced launch date and
several questions remain unanswered.
DOT should have
known these answers before
the pilot zone and corrals were
chosen.
NYC Parks prohibits the
use of e-scooters on Pelham
Parkway Greenway, and I
don’t expect them to change
the rules to permit the pilot
to operate in their area. Parks
may not listen to our concerns,
but they are risk averse due to
potential liability. It is NYC
Parks, not the three companies
participating in this pilot
program, that will be held responsible
and liable when —
not if — an accident occurs resulting
in severe injuries and
even death.
As an environmental group
that advocates for equity in
park maintenance and environmental
justice in the park’s
tree planting, we support alternative
transportations. Escooters
have a short lifespan,
File photo
are not disposable and not recycled
which makes them not
that eco-friendly.
Instead of DOT following
venture capitalist-fueled toys,
they should expand Citi Bikes
that prioritized the wealthiest
parts of our city. Also, as a
county that is the unhealthiest
in the entire state, we should
encourage physical activity
instead of displacing people off
the parkway with e-scooters.
In short, we ask NYC DOT
to focus on making our streets
safe for pedestrians, cyclists
and drivers and keep the problems
on the streets out of our
greenway.
Roxanne Delgado is the
founder of Friends of Pelham
Parkway.
Stay out of our parks NYC DOT
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