Back to the office may mean back to scooters and bikes. Lime ridership jumps
Lime, one of three shared mobility electric scooter and bike companies currently operating in the District, says ridership in February was 35% higher than it was in January, and was up 40% from February of last year.
According to Lime, almost 63,000 riders in D.C. took a total of 322,000 rides on its e-scooters and e-bikes in February, with half of those rides during peak commuting hours. VeoRide and Spin have not reported February rider numbers.
Last year, Lime riders in D.C. took 5.9 million rides, according to Lime, hitting 18.2 million trips since the company began renting in D.C. in 2017. Lime says D.C. is one of its top cities for scooter and bike rentals in North America.
One of the biggest complaints about shared scooter and bike companies is where they end up when not in use. The District has imposed strict parking regulations, including requiring them to be locked when not in use.
According to Lime, it is communicating regularly with riders on how to park properly. The company says it has doubled down on proper parking with a multi-pronged educational outreach program in D.C. It has also dedicated more staff to rebalancing vehicles and replacing mis-parked ones.
Lime currently is permitted to operate a fleet of up to 4,600 e-scooters in D.C., and up to 3,575 e-bikes. Spin’s scooter fleet is similar in size, while Veo’s permitted fleet is much smaller.
Last fall, Lyft discontinued its operations of both e-scooters and e-bikes in D.C., saying its decision to exit the market was in part financial, as it rightsizes its cost structure.