Mopeds have been part of Austin traffic for years, but a new fleet of shared electric mopeds is about to hit city streets and make the mode of travel a lot more visible.
New York-based shared electric moped startup Revel is planning to launch 1,000 of its vehicles at City Hall on Friday. The launch will add to an ever-changing fleet of travel alternatives in Austin, which now has 15,550 permitted e-scooters and 2,050 e-bikes.
But mopeds are a bit different than the dockless e-scooters scattered about the city.
You ride them on the street with normal traffic and typically travel at higher speeds -- up to 30 MPH. As such, Revel scooters are only available only to people over age 21 with valid drivers licenses -- and who pass an initial safe driving record background check. You also must park them in legal parking spaces.
Revel provides two helmets for each moped -- and they offer free lessons in their app or in-person. Austin pricing wasn't immediately clear, but in Washington, D.C., they cost $1 to unlock and 25 cents per minute.
Revel is currently hiring, and it plans to have about 40 local employees, including full- and part-time positions. It lists fleet maintenance, operations and instructor jobs among its local openings. The company notes that it doesn't use gig economy workers and that all employees get benefits.
The company was founded in March 2018 in New York by Frank Reig and Paul Suhey. It offers its mopeds in Brooklyn and Queens, as well as Washington, D.C. The company earlier this month landed a $27.6 million Series A round led by Ibez Investors and including funding from Toyota AI Ventures.
Austin is Revel's third metro market. TechCrunch reported that the company is planning to launch in about 10 cities by mid-2020.
Austin has several moped companies already in operation, including Electric Avenue and Ramble Scooters, although none appear to operate in the same dockless way Revel has positioned itself.
Revel most closely resembles OjO Electric, which on Monday announced plans to increase its fleet of seated e-scooters from 100 to 500.
Meanwhile, here’s the breakdown of Austin's scooter and bike numbers as shown on the city’s mobility site:
Bird – 4,500 scooters JUMP – 2,500 scooters, 2,000 e-bikes Lime – 5,000 scooters Lyft – 2,000 scooters OjO – 500 scooters Spin – 750 scooters VeoRide – 300 scooters and 50 bicycles
Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story said Austin has 15,550 e-scooters and e-bikes. The 15,550 is just the number of permitted e-scooters. Adding in e-bikes, there are currently a total of 17,600 permitted micro mobility devices.
