Starting this Thursday, New York City has the first public lithium-ion battery charging device for electric bicycles in the country, as part of a pilot program that aims to test this model. to expand it in all five boroughs.
The testing of these recharging devices took place in Coopers Square en el East Village from Manhattan. It is expected that in the coming months the same equipment will be installed in four locations in the Big Apple.
“Electric bicycles are fundamental tools for delivery drivers support our local economy. This pilot will offer safe charging options in public places so that delivery people do not run the risk of carrying out this process at home,” explained the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation (DOT), Ydanis Rodríguez.
The city announced that other outdoor charging sites will soon be available in Manhattan and Brooklyn, selected based on its high concentrations of delivery worker activity.
Those locations will specifically be the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park, Essex Market on the Lower East Side, Plaza De Las Américas in Washington Heights, and Willoughby and Jay streets in downtown Brooklyn. These new public services will be activated in the coming weeks.
Be careful!
For her part, the commissioner of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), Laura Kavanagh, amid the increasing fatalities associated with the explosion of these low-quality or “pirate” generators, he highlighted that this is just one step to stop more tragedies.
“The majority of fatal fires, which are triggered by the charging systems of these electric bicycles, occur in residences. Delivery drivers and other people use them daily for work and commuting. We must continue to expand the safety message: Please be careful how and where you charge this micromobility equipment!” the firefighter leader stressed.
To date, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) has issued 200 fines for retailers who irresponsibly assemble these batteries or sell uncertified artifacts.
Unfortunately, the latest deadly fire, last weekend, caused by the explosion of a lithium-ion battery, killed one person and injured 17 others on the third floor of a six-story building in Harlem.
The commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), Ydanis Rodríguez highlighted the essential work of delivery workers. (Photo: F. Martínez)
“Is an advance”
While this new public charging station was just being tested, Mexican delivery worker Antonio Soliswith five years on the streets of the Big Apple, was just becoming familiar with the new equipment installed in Lower Manhattan.
“It is a great advance for all the delivery workers who are struggling to safely carry our work instruments. Now we have to educate ourselves to know how to use them exactly. “It seems to me that it is a great step,” commented the Veracruz native who is part of the Deliveristas Unidos organization.
Antonio assures that as a union, they constantly try to spread valuable information on how this great workforce can avoid tragedies.
“As deliverists we are just a part of the users of this equipment. And maybe we are the ones who at this moment we have more education about its management. These new stations will be a great relief,” said the migrant, who witnesses the great challenges that this workforce has in the Big Apple.
Already in some buildings in the five boroughs, tenants are being radically prohibited from have these micromobility equipment.
Many landlords already include as a condition for renting a property that you cannot under any circumstances have bicycles, nor electric skateboards, in their properties.
In the first quarter of 2023, the Municipal Council approved a series of five pieces of legislation, which, among other measures, restricts the sale, lease or rental of motorized mobility devices, such as electric bicycles and electric scooters, and storage batteries for devices that do not meet recognized safety certifications.
To be legally sold, this equipment and its storage batteries must have been certified by an accredited testing laboratory to meet applicable safety standards of Underwriters Laboratories (UL).
Many deliverers realize that it is very expensive for them to acquire certified batteries because they are three times more expensive. While a “regular” one costs $100, those certified between $300 and $400.
A year ago, Mayor Eric Adams announced plans to launch a lithium ion battery charging programwhich in the future will allow delivery drivers to safely load their bicycles in public spaces on a massive scale.
The plan will test a variety of technologies in multiple locations across the city, developed as part of a strategy launched in March 2023 called “Charge safely, travel safely.”to protect New Yorkers from fires caused by these generators.
The data:
- 60,000 is the number of delivery drivers in the five boroughs of NYC who use electric bicycles. In the immediate term, some critics maintain that the new public charging station pilot, with five stations, cannot demonstrate how a complete network would work, but it can help the City decide how much the new system should grow.
2024-02-29 23:08:09
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