Riders mourn as Revel ends moped sharing program in NYC

After five years of providing shared mopeds in New York City, Revel is shutting down the program, company spokesperson Robert Familiar told the Brooklyn Eagle on Saturday.

“Revel’s CEO Frank Reig informed all employees yesterday that the company is bringing an end to its shared electric moped service,” Familiar said. The last day for the shared mopeds will be Nov. 18 in both New York City and San Francisco.

The company will now “fully focus on its all-EV, all-employee rideshare and public fast charging businesses,” Familiar said. Revel is currently developing large public fast charging networks in New York and the Bay Area.

Revel’s moped ridership has fallen since it peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, when commuters were avoiding mass transit, according to TechCrunch. New York and San Francisco were Revel’s last two moped-sharing markets. 

There are also dozens of lawsuits against Revel, blaming the mopeds (classified as Class B motorcycles, with a top speed of 30 mph) or their riders for serious injuries and deaths, many on the streets of Brooklyn. One highly-publicized crash in Greenpoint killed CBS News reporter Nina Kapur in 2020. Kapur’s family is suing Revel.

New York City court records lists 77 lawsuits naming Revel Transit as a defendant since it began operations here. Most of the lawsuits claim that the vehicles are poorly maintained, with faulty brakes or steering. They also claim Revel allows untrained riders to use the mopeds.

However, Revel requires that customers agree to an arbitration clause in order to ride the vehicles — something that some riders say they didn’t notice when signing up on their cellphones. Judges have enforced the arbitration requirement in most cases that have been settled, staying court proceedings pending the outcome. (This clause does not apply to pedestrians, cyclists or others run down by moped riders,…