Expansion will build on the success of scooter share in the Bronx, which promoted equity and environmentally-friendly transportation options in ‘transit deserts’ not reached by subways
With continued community engagement, Queens installation will begin this spring, with an anticipated late-June official launch
NEW YORK – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced next steps in NYC DOT’s plans to launch e-scooter share in Eastern Queens this summer. The program, first announced last June, is designed to cover four community boards, approximately 20 square miles in area from Flushing and Auburndale in the north to Rochdale Village and Springfield Gardens in the south. The expansion builds on the success of e-scooter sharing in the East Bronx, where commuters have already recorded 3.8 million trips among more than 157,000 unique user accounts since service launched in August 2021. The program expansion into Queens will provide critical connections to major transportation and commercial hubs for roughly 600,000 residents.
“We are very excited for this summer’s arrival of e-scooter sharing in Eastern Queens following our successful East Bronx pilot, where nearly 4 million rides have been taken since August 2021,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “This expansion is an equitable way to bring a popular, safe, and environmentally sustainable mode of transportation to underserved neighborhoods in Queens, and we look forward to continuing our work with these communities as e-scooter share expands.”
As part of its public outreach efforts last year, NYC DOT opened an online feedback portal and conducted on-street surveying in the proposed service zone. The Queens e-scooter share expansion will include all three companies currently operating in the Bronx: Bird, Lime, and Veo. The expansion covers several Tier 1 and Tier 2 Priority Investment Areas, which are defined in the NYC Streets Plan as city areas with higher percentages of non-white and low-income populations; higher job and population density; and lower levels of past NYC DOT investment.
The timeline for the 2024 planning, outreach, and installation will be as follows:
- May – DOT follow-up presentations to community boards
- Early/Mid-June - DOT begins corral installations
- Late June – Program launches, with rollout beginning in the southern part of the service area
*All of these dates are approximate.