Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Today's Headlines

Friday’s Headlines: Charged Up Edition

There's a lot of good news in the Department of Transportation's battery announcement on Thursday. Plus other news.

Photo: DOT|

DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez shows off the charging technology.

There's a lot of good news in the Department of Transportation's announcement on Thursday that its lithium-ion battery swap pilot program is working exactly as we said it would.

The agency announced that five months into the six-month program, 84 percent of the 120 pilot participants who were previously charging their e-bike batteries at home are now charging them at one of five existing battery swap stations. And about half of the participants have stopped charging batteries at home, where neighbors could be at risk if fires break out.

After the pilot ends, the DOT will present a much fuller report, but that raises some questions: Will the existing charging hubs be allowed to remain in place after the six-month pilot ends, or will participants have to return their safe, swappable batteries and go back to their possibly lethal ones?

I swear to you, I asked this question six different ways to DOT, but never got a clear answer. The good news, according to agency spokesman Vin Barone is that the pilot will inform subsequent DOT efforts to expand safe and affordable e-battery charging across the city.

Indeed, the pilot has already led to a DOT effort to allow property owners to install charging infrastructure at their properties. But what happens in late August when the pilot ends? Will the three companies involved — Swobbee, Swiftmile and Popwheels — have to remove their stations at Cooper Square, Essex Market, and Willoughby Street in Manhattan, and the Army Terminal and Willoughby Street in Brooklyn, forcing existing pilot participants to go back to the old dangerous way of charging? We simply don't know.

More on this story as it develops.

In other news from an oddly slow day:

  • A new rail link between New Jersey and New York? Believe it. (NYDN)
  • Carnage in Long Island. (NY Post)
  • Yes, bus fare evasion is an issue, but not the one the MTA thinks. (amNY)
  • Memo to NYPD: Don't bash immigrant vendors. (Hell Gate)
  • Finally, we reached out to the Secret Service with a rasher of questions about the incident involving a Tribeca man and his alleged "vandalizing" of two SUVs with covered plates, but the agency did not respond (hence its name). We asked:
    • What type of covering did the Secret Service vehicles in question have on their license plates?
    • What kind of license plates were these (NYS, another state, federal, etc?).
    • Is it standard practice for unmarked Secret Service vehicles to use plate covers, which are illegal in NYS? If so, why is this standard practice? If not, why were there plate covers on those vehicles?

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Tech Could Speed Up City Transportation Projects: Report

Current technology could shorten reviews from months to a few hours, one expert said.

November 6, 2024

Q&A: On the Front Lines of America’s ‘Long War to Take Back Streets’

Streetsblog chats with author Nicole Gelinas, whose new book, "Movement," is a deep dive into all the ways our cities have been destroyed by cars.

November 6, 2024

Opinion: Clean Trucks Will Save Lives — If Gov. Hochul Stays the Course

With each truck that rumbles through our communities, families are exposed to unsafe levels of diesel soot and tailpipe pollution.

November 6, 2024

Reining in Deliverista Distances is the Key to Safety

A mileage fee on food deliveries can serve workers as well as the society of which they’re a part. What are we waiting for? 

November 5, 2024

State Now Considering Car-Free Connector Next To Cross-Bronx Expwy Instead of Covert Highway

Perhaps all of the local outrage over building a parallel highway to the Cross Bronx is working?

November 5, 2024
See all posts