In July, Lime bikes and scooters carried half as many trips as the $2B SR-99 tunnel

Average daily trips by month for Lime scooters and bikes, via SDOT's New Mobility Program data dashboard.

People in Seattle took 24,118 trips on Lime bikes and scooters every day on average during the month of July. That is nearly five times the average weekday ridership for both Seattle Streetcar lines combined, and it's about half the average number of vehicles using the $2 billion SR-99 tunnel under downtown (47,291 average vehicles per day based on WSDOT's 2023 count, the most recent available). And Lime did all this while paying Seattle for the privilege.

The reported July 2024 ridership data for Lime's scooters and bikes is so high I asked Lime to double check the numbers to make sure they aren't the result of a software bug, and they confirmed they are correct. The figures reported to SDOT's data dashboard for the month of July represent a 71% increase over the company's previous monthly ridership record set the same month in 2023. Note that these numbers are reported by Lime, and we do not have the ability to independently verify them.

Lime continues to increase its dominant role in Seattle's micromobility scene, and it seems users have mostly stopped being company-agnostic and are now going straight to the Lime app to find a ride. Bird saw a 40% decline in ridership in July 2024 compared to July 2023, SuperPedestrian shut down their Link scooter service completely, and Veo temporarily paused" service in Seattle in March. I have reached out to Veo asking for an update on their plans to return and will post when I learn more (UPDATE: Veo said they have not renewed their Seattle permit, but they remain committed to keeping in touch with the City and community partners and hope to serve Seattle again in the future." They also sent the results of a focus group they conducted, which I will cover in a future post). Even Gig Car Share, which is only sort of a competitor to Lime, is shutting down in December. But Lime's reported growth outpaces simply gobbling up rides from their competitors.

Lyft, operator of Portland's BikeTown bike and scooter share program, has applied to operate in Seattle in the past but never actually launched here. They seem to be the most likely competitor to Lime at this point, assuming Bird does not make a miraculous turnaround.

Lime also introduced a new pricing scheme called LimePass in which users can save money by buying minute bundles." For example, $7 gets you 30 minutes of riding within a 24-hour period, and you don't need to pay the $1 unlock fee every time you start a ride. 30 minutes of riding would cost $14.50 under regular pricing, assuming you only unlocked a device once. So especially if you are stringing together multiple shorter trips, LimePass is a lot cheaper. Other bundles include $10 for 60 mins over 3 days, $27 for 180 minutes over 7 days, and $34 for 280 minutes over 30 days. If you quality for the ORCA Lift low-income transit pass, you also qualify for the excellent and deeply-discounted Lime Access program.

Seattle has been operating a competitive market for bike and scooter share services since 2017, and Lime has been a leading player since the beginning. It is difficult to see how any other companies could compete at this point without a massive upfront investment on a level we don't see venture capital firms throwing towards micromobility companies the way they were back when these services first started. Some cities have moved from an open or controlled market system to a dedicated vendor system in which only one company is given permits to operate. At this point, it seems like Seattle has all but ended up there, as well. Lime is not quite a monopoly yet, but they may be one Bird bankruptcy away from it.

Promotional photo of a Lime Glider sit-down scooter.

So far, Lime has been a benevolent almost-monopoly. Prices have gone down thanks to their LimePass scheme, they launched an even better model of their e-bike a couple months ago, and they will bring a brand new sit-down scooter called the Lime Glider to Seattle later this month. The company is improving service, lowering prices and getting more riders. The state of modern tech capitalism has me on edge waiting for the enshittification to begin, but so far Lime has defied that expectation.

Seattle and Lime could begin to consider what a different arrangement might look like. After a recent trip to southern California, I was inspired by the great experience using Long Beach's very orderly and affordable bike share system. With Lime ridership now a significant part of our city's transportation system, it might be time to make that relationship more formal through some kind of public-private partnership to expand the city's orderly bike and scooter parking space while also making our streets safer.

Hoboken, New Jersey, has eliminated traffic deaths in recent years in large part by daylighting their intersections and crosswalks using a variety of different types of curb extensions that shorten crossing distances and reduce illegal car parking. It is already illegal in Washington State to park within 30 feet of a stop sign or traffic signal or within 20 feet of any crosswalk, which includes essentially every street corner. Parked cars can obscure the vision of road users as they approach conflict points, a problem that is getting worse as vehicles get bigger and taller. Seattle already has extensive experience installing curb extensions, but they are not creating them at the rate needed to address our traffic safety crisis. Typical intersections have four approaches, so we need as many as four curb extensions per intersection. And Seattle has a lot of intersections. Even if we prioritize curb extensions on busier commercial streets, that's still an enormous amount of work.

An on-street bike corral SDOT installed ten years ago. The rise of private bike and scooter share has made these even more important.

One affordable style of curb extension is to create an on-street bike and scooter parking area. Dedicating space at intersections across the city to bike and scooter parking would embrace the fact that these vehicles are an important part of our city's transportation system while also keeping the devices out of walkways and curb ramps where they impede accessibility. In 2017, they were a disruptive innovation squeezing into spaces wherever they could fit. But it's 2024 now, and it's time to make sure they have a safe and responsible place to be. A massive expansion of on-street curb extensions with bike and scooter parking would be a win-win-win for the city's transportation safety, mobility and accessibility goals.