https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/26/the-e-scooters-loved-by-silicon-valley-roll-into-new-york

Skip to main content
The New Yorker

  * Newsletter

To revisit this article, select My Account, then 

Close Alert
Sign In
Search

  * News
  * Books & Culture
  * Fiction & Poetry
  * Humor & Cartoons
  * Magazine
  * Crossword
  * Video
  * Podcasts
  * Archive
  * Goings On
  * Shop

Open Navigation Menu

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories

Close Alert
The New Yorker
Our Local Correspondents
April 26 & May 3, 2021 Issue

The E-Scooters Loved by Silicon Valley Roll Into New York

Fleets of electric scooters have taken over city streets worldwide.
With New York finally climbing aboard, do they represent a tech
hustle or a transit revolution?

By John Seabrook

April 19, 2021

  *  
  *  
  *  
  *  
  *  
    Save this story for later.

Electric scooters
Shared electric scooters offer a solution to what transportation
experts call the "last-mile problem."Illustration by Igor Bastidas

  *  
  *  
  *  
  *  
  *  
    Save this story for later.

New York City used to be an early adopter of new transportation
modes. In the late eighteen-sixties, New Yorkers took up the
velocipede, a primitive version of the bicycle. Half a century later,
the city embraced the automobile, and eventually made free parking
available for the fossil-fuel-burning machines--a remarkable giveaway
of expensive public space that many carless citizens would like back
now. New York also engineered and built a subway system, above ground
and below ground, which, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, carried
five and a half million riders every weekday--a landmark of American
people-moving the city may never reach again, if remote work is here
to stay.

But when it comes to shared electric scooters--the adult, motorized
versions of the standing "kick" scooter that you push with one
foot--New York has taken the slow lane. As with its bike-share scheme,
Citi Bike, which launched in 2013, years after most other big cities,
New York has adopted a conservative approach to this ballyhooed new
mode of getting around town.

Published in the print edition of the April 26 & May 3, 2021, issue,
with the headline "Scooter City."
[seabrook-j]
John Seabrook has been a contributor to The New Yorker since 1989 and
became a staff writer in 1993. He has published four books,
including, most recently, "The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory."
More:TransportationScootersMotor ScootersNew York CityStartupsSharing
CaliforniaBirdSilicon ValleyPandemicsEngineersDepartment of
Transportation

This Week's Issue

Never miss a big New Yorker story again. Sign up for This Week's
Issue and get an e-mail every week with the stories you have to read.
Enter your e-mail address
[                    ]
Sign up

Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Read More
 
The Pandemic Through the Eyes of a Three-Year-Old
Video
 
The Pandemic Through the Eyes of a Three-Year-Old

As a local mosque announces news of daily deaths, three-year-old
Antara does her best to find connection and joy in the midst of a
coronavirus lockdown in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The New Yorker

Sections

  * News
  * Books & Culture
  * Fiction & Poetry
  * Humor & Cartoons
  * Magazine
  * Crossword
  * Video
  * Podcasts
  * Archive
  * Goings On

More

  * Customer Care
  * Shop The New Yorker
  * Buy Covers and Cartoons
  * Conde Nast Store
  * Digital Access
  * Newsletters
  * Jigsaw Puzzle
  * RSS
  * Site Map

  * About
  * Careers
  * Contact
  * F.A.Q.
  * Media Kit
  * Press
  * Accessibility Help
  * Conde Nast Spotlight

(c) 2021 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes
acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie
Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn
a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site
as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on
this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or
otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde
Nast. Ad Choices

  *  
  *  
  *  
  *  
  *  

Do Not Sell My Personal Info