Newtonians may be seeing blue shared bikes around the city, StreetsBlog reports. The bike share program, run by Lyft, already provides dock-based service in Boston, Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville and is negotiating to add service in a number of nearby suburbs, including Newton. The future of Lime bikes is unclear. It is reported that Lime is orienting their business around scooters.
Lime Bikes or Blue?
by Adam Peller | Oct 24, 2019 | bicycles | 13 comments
I use BlueBikes and I find them to be great at filling in gaps between public transit nodes. I also use Lime and while I have my own frustrations, in general I find it a useful piece in the puzzle.
My fear is that having just 5 stations is not enough for a city of this physical size. Having more would require a significant investment (each station is expensive to deploy).
Living in Newton corner, I welcome the connection Blue Bikes would make to Brighton and along the river into Boston. Within Newton, I fear we would lose the e-bike option necessary to cross the hills North-South. I will have to see what the actual plan becomes.
Living in Newton Lime bikes or dockless provide the most versatility and encourages more riders.
I never loved the dockless model. I never knew where I’d find a bike when I needed one and sometimes the closest was miles away and they often blocked the sidewalks. I don’t think the 5 docks is sufficient but at least you know where they’ll be – the Limes could be anywhere!
Just wondering, are these shared bike companies economically viable without city government subsidy? If not, it would seem more than appropriate for the city to evaluate whether the volume of usage merits city investment.
Lime has been on life support in Newton for a year and Newton shouldn’t be subsidizing this failed business model for even a dollar. Nor should they subsidize Blue. These businesses should live or die on their own merits
Adams writes “It is reported that Lime is orienting their business around scooters.” No. Lime has stated clearly that they will only offer bikes and eBike in communities that will also offer scooters because that is where they make their money. And unless Newton PD has changed it’s position the scooters are prohibited in Newton, as they should be as they are a hazzard.
I drive and ride through Brookline daily and helmetless scooter riders are erractic jumping between bike lanes, car lanes and sidewalks.
I see Lime bikes sporadically “staged” in Newton Center but I see few ridden on the street. Lime just haven’t pulled them yet, perhaps because Newton is foolishly willing to continue to subsidize them
The city doesn’t subsidize Lime. No tax dollars are involved.
Greg,
That’s great currently as to Lime.
But in regards Bluebike, according to the linked StreetsBlog reports, “Lyft, the operator of the dock-based Bluebikes system… has made an attractive offer to Newton and five other municipalities abutting the existing Bluebikes system,” according to the memo from Mayor Fuller. “The offer requires some funding for capital expenses for five stations per municipality.”
So in that case, at least, it would seem more than appropriate for the city to evaluate whether the volume of usage merits any city investment.
The City does subsidize Lime. They operate a private business on public property and pay no rent. That aside… What kind of chucklehead rides a bike without a helmet? Why do we subsidize a company that makes money putting unhelmeted riders on city streets?
Public transportation, as a general rule, tends not to be profitable, but it is an investment in our future.
Private transportation (such as cars) are profitable for those companies that supply them, but they also operate on public land (roads). General Motors, Toyota and other large suppliers of private vehicles do not subsidize those roadways, but they do benefit from them.
If we want public transportation to work we need to invest in it through subsidies. It’s an infrastructure that can deliver people to businesses and therefore commerce, with a lower carbon footprint. We need to stop seeing subsidies a pure expense and start seeing them as an investment in our community.
Speaking of convenience to access the share bike, I would in favor to dock-less bike (Lime Bike). Very inconvenience with (Blue bike) with docking station, first take up space, and have to travel to and from docking stations to use and return the bike. Often time at the location where I want to use the bike, the docking station would be a distance away. It wastes a lot of time to locate the docking station to return the bike also.
People complain often users putting the Lime bike everywhere, I guess people needs to use common sense,parking the bike in the middle of the sidewalk and near a crosswalk is irresponsible, not a good idea, you wouldn’t park your car blocking someone’s driveway, in people’s way, cooperation is the key.
Lime to stop bike-share operations in the Boston region
The San Francisco outfit says it will instead double down on e-scooters
By Tom Acitelli Jan 9, 2020, 4:01pm EST
https://boston.curbed.com/2020/1/9/21058964/lime-bikes-boston
I remember docked bikes in Copenhagen 20 years ago. They worked beautifully. You could unlock a bike from the dock for 1 euro. Ride the bike for 3 days and upon returning the bike get the euro back. Any abandoned bike on the street/ sidewalk could be returned to a dock and the returnee would get the euro as a reward.
No business incentive there but it worked like a charm.