SCENE FROM THE STREET
Bike Docking Charging Sites
Text and photo by Brian J Pape, AIA
You may have passed by this bike docking set-up at Cooper Square (photo right) and dismissed it as just another Citi Bike station.
Did you know that the Citi Bike stations do not charge the e-bikes docked in them? E-bike batteries are charged in a warehouse and shuttled back and forth for manual swapping at the stations throughout the city.
The city DOT and Lyft announced in May the completion of New York City’s first two grid-connected Citi Bike charging stations. Electrified charging stations allow for Citi Bike e-bike batteries to be charged while parked in stations instead of manually swapped out, making e-bikes more available to riders and reducing vehicle miles traveled by operations vans. The City and Lyft hope to expand the charging station network in the coming years to help support the growing ridership of electric Citi Bikes. The first charging docks are located at Hudson Yards on 35th Street and 9th Avenue, and in Brooklyn at the intersection of Meserole Avenue and Manhattan Avenue.
In addition to Citi Bikes, there are hundreds of delivery e-bikers covering the city making their rounds with nowhere to recharge their batteries either, until now.
Mayor Adams has declared at a press conference that, “We know [e-bikes] are convenient, but they also are a necessity, particularly for those who are part of this booming economy of delivering food and other items throughout the city. [E-bikes] play a major role in help reducing congestion in how we move around the city as we deal with our environmental issues that we are facing.”
The city is starting to make the major investments that will enable e-micromobility to become a safe, viable option for more New Yorkers.
A new six-month pilot program is part of Mayor Eric Adams’ “Charge Safe, Ride Safe” initiative, which also includes battery-swapping networks and secure bike parking docks.
Beside the one pictured above at Cooper Square, other charging sites are at Essex Market in the Lower East Side, Plaza De Las Americas in Washington Heights, Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park, and Willoughby and Jay Streets in Downtown Brooklyn.
What stands out from other bike docks is the tall and bulky cabinet near the docks, much larger than kiosks at Citi Bike stations. The equipment is huge and includes lockers for the users. As posted at the charging site, the pilot program tests the charging technologies, and is only available to pre-registered delivery workers. There is a shady place to sit while waiting for the charging, but there is no shelter for inclement weather. But it’s a start.
