By: Hellen Zaboulani
A startup, named Oonee, is building free pods, or safe modular parking shelters, for bikes and scooters. Shabazz Stuart, a 31-year-old Brooklyn native, brainstormed the idea in 2015, while working for a business improvement district in Brooklyn. As reported by Bloomberg News, Stuart would commute to work by bike and had his bicycle stolen three times over five years. So, Stuart, along with co-founder J. Manuel Mansylla, started working on designs for a modular parking pod. The goal was to make something that wouldn’t be an eyesore on the sidewalk, would be roomy and secure, without breaking the bank for bikers.
There are currently two Oonee pods open, each with room for about seven bikes. One is in the Journal Square train station in Jersey City, and the other is at the Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn near the Barclays Center arena. All users have to do is swipe a card to unlock the door to a 7-foot-long aluminum shelter–which is wrapped in advertisements and topped with potted plants — and leave the bike or scooter alongside other bikes. “It’s a brilliant idea,” says Erin Vinson, 34, who uses the pod in her daily commute. “Everything about it is easy.”
On Thursday the company announced plans to install two more mini pods in New York City this spring. The company hopes to eventually branch out, with hundreds of pods across the city– bigger walk-in versions in high-traffic areas, and smaller lockboxes on residential blocks. “So we need to have hundreds, if not thousands, of smaller facilities on city streets.” Reaching that scale would require working with hundreds of property developers as well as local governments. “It’s a radical vision,” Stuart admits. “It’s an ambitious vision. I don’t deny that. But those are the ideas that are worth doing, in my opinion.” The company also aspires to bring the pods to other cities.
In the U.S., bike parking has been a problem which riders have to deal with, without help from the local governments. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, though, bike sales have surged in the U.S., and so have bike thefts. There were more than 240,000 bikes registered with Bike Index last year in the U.S., and there were16,022 bikes reported stolen. The figures show that registration was up 111% compared to 2019, and bike thefts were up by nearly 56%. With the rising popularity of ebikes, bicycle prices are going up too, further exacerbating the problem.
Oonee’s walk-in pods, which are equipped with security cameras, cost about $80,000 to build. Insured parking is free to anyone who signs up for the app and provides proof of identity. Oonee gets its revenue, which it shares with the property owners, from the advertising space on the shelters. The two pods which are currently in operation bring in more than enough money to cover the costs, Stuart says.
As per Bloomberg News, Oonee’s first public pod was installed in downtown Manhattan in 2018 but was subsequently closed after a fallout with the NYC Department of Transportation regarding guidelines for advertising on the structures. “We had to take that one down after 10 months because we were operating basically a charity,” Stuart says, indicating that it wasn’t turning a profit. In an emailed statement the Port Authority said it is proud of Oonee’s “innovative solution” at Journal Square and looks forward to continuing to work with the company.
