At least the City Transit Authority can’t accuse members of the Queens Borough Board of indecisiveness when it comes to various forms of shared transportation.
On Monday night, a DOT delegation to Borough Hall, led by Queens Commissioner Nicole Garcia, presented updates on the City Bike and Car Share programs, as well as plans to expand the pilot scooter share effort from the Bronx to East Queens.
The 14 borough board chairs who spoke had a litany of issues and concerns or asked the DOT why their districts were being excluded from certain programs.
Citi Bike received the most feedback. Since Citi Bike debuted in the city in 2015, there have been more than 200 million rides, said Finley Scanlon, DOT’s outreach coordinator for bike share and rideshare mobility. He said the numbers on the bike prove the success of the program.
“That’s the equivalent of four trips per day per bike, which is pretty amazing,” Scanlon said. But she also said the program won’t be expanding its reach in Queens with new approvals anytime soon. The only additions planned for 2024 are Woodside, Maspeth, Sunnyside, The city’s goal is to fill the gap in District 2, a community that includes all or part of Long Island.
Borough President Donovan Richards expressed disappointment that many areas considered transit deserts, such as the Rockaways in Jamaica and points in southeastern Queens, are currently not on the table.
“I want people to have as many options as possible,” he said.
Scanlon said the model expands on Citi Bike without leaving any gaps in its existing program areas. Community Board 6 Chair Heather Beers-Dimitriadis said Forest Hills and Rego Park are perfect for the program.
“I’m looking forward to Citi Bike,” she said. “There are a lot of places where you can put docking stations without having to remove parking spaces,” she said, pointing to the Lego Center mall in Forest Hills and the Long Island Rail Road station as examples.
“But we are far from achieving that,” she said.
Stevie Feig, project manager for DOT’s car-sharing program, said the numbers are also encouraging.
Under the program, Zipcar and Enterprise Carshare will set up vehicles at 35 locations in Queens, each with two parking spaces, where registered members can use the vehicle and return it at the same location.
Those who filed complaints had issues with the location of some of the sites. Rev. Carlene Sobes, Chair of the 12th Board, offered the Jamaica location as an example.
“If people want to go to a barber shop or hair salon, they want to be able to park and get right in,” Sobes said. But as a result, businesses could end up with two cars sitting in front of their stores all day, not moving, if the cars aren’t being used, she said.
“The owners of those spots didn’t know about your program,” Sauve said. “They were not informed.”
Feig said the department will improve its operations in the future.
As for scooters, Scanlon said the Bronx’s successful shared scooter program will expand in spring 2024.
The same three companies participating in the Bronx pilot program, Bird, Lime, and Veo, will operate the stand-up scooter stations available for rent.
Everything in Queens is located in the eastern part of the borough. The western boundary of the Queens Service Area is the Van Wyck Expressway from Belt Parkway to Flushing. The eastern boundary is Clearview Expressway to the north, which eventually becomes Francis Lewis Boulevard.
The map is available online at bit.ly/3R8mgY4.
13th Board Chairman Brian Bullock’s district, mostly in the eastern and southeastern parts of Queens, has little access to parking, as well as scooters and city bikes.
“We don’t want them,” Block said. “We drive a car. If we want a bike, we buy a bike…We’re not Park Slope. We’re not Fort Greene. We’re not even the East Bronx.” ..If Board 6 wants a city bike, let them have one.”
Frank Taylor, president of Board 3, which includes East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and North Corona, also expressed concerns about road and traffic safety from the loss of parking spaces.
“It looks like cars are being attacked in New York City, but that doesn’t make sense,” Taylor said. “I’m not going to ride my bike and go shopping.”