BIKE SHARE IS BACK!
What are those LIME Green Bikes popping up in Miami Springs? They are called dockless or stationless bikes from a bike share company called LIME. They allow you to rent a bike using your phone and go anywhere. You download the app. Setup an account and pay method. Scan the bike with an app on your phone and you’re off. When you’re done, you park it responsibly.
What happened to the Orange SPIN Bikes?
In less than 12 months operating in Miami Springs, SPIN made a business decision to get out of the bike sharing business nationwide and exclusively focus on electric scooter sharing. (There’s a whole controversy about how the electric Scooters ended up all over Brickell and were quickly banned by the City of Miami, but that’s a story for another website.)
EXPERIENCE:
LIME BIKE already operates in South Florida at Key Biscayne, North Miami, Miami Shores, and North Bay Village. In fact, the first city to get the LIME bikes in the entire country was the Village of Key Biscayne.
The photo below is a LIME bike resting on a Key Biscayne residential home’s hedges.
HOW MANY BIKES?
According to the City Manager, William Alonso: “They will operate between 50-100 bikes citywide depending on usage.”
COMPLAINT RESPONSE TIMES:
As with SPIN, there are no docking stations or designated parking areas. And while most renters are good about parking the rented bike responsibly and without disturbing neighbors, some bike share rentals were definitely left in inappropriate locations. The agreement with LIME requires a two hour response time from LIME during weekdays from 8am to 8pm (excluding holidays.) There is no response on weekends and holidays.
NO COMPENSATION TO THE CITY:
LIME will be able to operate its rental bike operation without paying the city for the use of public property despite providing LIME with exclusivity to our market. According to a press release from LIME, LIME donated a month’s worth of bike share revenue (up to $5,000) to the Village of Key Biscayne. Key Biscayne earmarked that donation as a gift to nearby Liberty City. Meanwhile, Miami Springs does not receive any profit sharing or tax revenue from LIME, a San Francisco company.
MIXED FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY:
News of the return of bike share came with mixed results from the community. Here’s a sampling of comments on our MiamiSprings.com Community Facebook Group:
- Charlotte Cartaya We love this program!! Hopefully they stick around.
- Miriam Gomez Duarte Same thing just different color, unless they designate a dockage they will be thrown all around town. It’s looks bad in my opinion.
- Christy Rettig Llaneras Wow this is great just hope they are not thrown all over like the spin bikes were.
- Amanda Valdespino Yeah! Awesome!
- Lynn Pelley-castellanos Great just what we need to see thrown all around town. Saw them in sunset they are atrocious!
- Tammy Walton Great, they’ll blend in when they’re dumped on yard swails all around town.
- Martinez Jan Looking forward to the new bikes?
- Daniella Cordoves I’m so happy we will still have access to bikes and not scooters. Yay!
- Jennifer L Taylor-Santoli NEW BIKES! WOOHOO!
- Wesley D Smith In the end, share programs are only as successful as the ridership and cultural discipline, of its communities.
REPORTING PROBLEMS
Of course, it didn’t take long to see the new bikes laying down in a less than desirable fashion at the corner of Westward and Esplanade Drive. As any cyclist knows, it can be tricky to keep a bike upright (even with a kickstand) when it’s parked on soft soil. The kickstand digs into the soil from the weight of the bike and gravity does the rest.
TO REPORT A MISPLACED BIKE, CALL LIME AT: 1-888-546-3345 (OPTION 3)
What do you think of the new LIME green bikes in Miami Springs?
