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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JUNE 30, 2019
TERRIFIED: Reporter Kevin Duggan (left) took his life into his own hands when he merged into the multi-lane maelstrom of traffi c at
Grand Army Plaza. After a 68-bike pilot in Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint, Revel Transit expanded its fl eet to 1,000 bikes across
20 neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the northern hinterland of Queens. Photo by Trey Pentecost; Map courtesy of Revel Transit
This newspaper is not responsible for typographical errors in ads beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2019 by Brooklyn Courier
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changes to Courier Life, One MetroTech Center North, Third Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
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 bluecolored
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 socalled
“shareable” mopeds
debuted in August ,
when the fi rm 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 fi rm
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 fi xing, 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 they were everywhere!
“They’re all over the
place — they’re like fl eas,”
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 classifi es
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 a motorcycle
— signed up for Revel’s app
and puttered at low speeds
toward his latest byline:
My fi rst 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 traffi c 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 terrifi ed 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
fi rst 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 safety policies,
including cutting service
between midnight and
5 a.m., and issuing fi nes
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.
SCOOT ‘EM UP!
Brooklyn Paper hits the streets with ‘shareable’ moped