I rode Lime’s new sit-down scooter
I took the new Lime Glider sit-down scooter for a test ride a few days before the company rolls 280 of them out in the U District starting for a trial. People can ride them anywhere they want within the Lime service area for the same price as their bikes and scooters, but Lime staff will eventually rebalance them back to the U District during the trial period.
Seattle is the only market getting the Gliders for now, and Lime staff pointed to strong ridership here as well as SDOT's role as a well-grounded regulator," according to Director of Government Relations Hayden Harvey. They keep up honest, but they are also collaborative in innovating in this industry," he said.
Lime is positioning the Glider as a more approachable and comfortable device. The step-over height is even lower than on their bikes, and riders can easily keep their feet on the ground before they start moving. Like with a bicycle, the center of balance is further back than on a foot scooter, making it far less likely for a rider to fall forward. But it's also not a bicycle, which could appeal to people who find bicycling intimidating. Or at least that's their hope.
Legally speaking, the device is not a bicycle and must follow scooter rules. In Seattle, that means no sidewalk riding unless there is no alternative for a motorized foot scooter to travel over a sidewalk that is part of a bicycle or pedestrian path." They can be ridden on roads, bike lanes and paved multi-use trails. Only one person is allowed to ride at a time, though I suspect we'll be seeing folks trying to squeeze together on the longer seat.
It can climb hills, but it struggles up the really steep ones. My go-to test for all these bikes and scooters has been to climb the absurdly-steep block of Cherry Street between 4th and 5th Avenues. The Glider barely passed, slowing all the way to 4 mph using motor power alone. I ended up using my foot to give it a boost. On flats and more typical hills, it was zippy and easy to ride.
As someone who has ridden every type of device from all the different bike and scooter share companies who have come to Seattle (and some who haven't), it is most similar to the Veo Cosmo pseudo-bike. Like the Cosmo, the seat height on the Glider is not adjustable, so the experience will vary widely depending on your height. The taller you are, the more reclined you will feel. The main differences are that the Cosmo had pedals (they were mostly useless, but they existed) and front suspension. I also felt comfortable standing on the pedals while riding the Cosmo, but the Glider clearly intends for riders to sit while riding.
Whether these design choices are good or bad thing is entirely subjective. I personally prefer the more upright posture of a bicycle, but I'm someone who rides a bike every day and writes a blog about bicycling so I may not be representative of the wider population. I also have low back issues (I was born with some fused vertebrae) and found the reclined position to be uncomfortable when going over bumps. But again, not everyone has my particular back issues.
Others may find it perfectly comfortable, and being able to ride without worrying about adjusting the saddle height could have its own appeal since it's one less thing to do before starting a ride. People with certain kinds of joint pain may also find it more comfortable to not need to pedal. Though it's worth noting that the newest model of Lime e-bikes also have a throttle and can be ridden without pedaling if desired.
Lime has been on an absolute tear in Seattle this year, obliterating their previous ridership records while introducing new and improved devices and lowering prices through their new LimePass pricing scheme. We'll see if the Glider is able to reach even more people who do not find the foot scooters and bikes appealing. They are already carrying a serious number of trips in Seattle, bringing Lime into the consideration alongside major road and transit investments. As we noted recently, Lime moved about half as many trips in July as the $2 billion SR-99 tunnel in downtown Seattle. These are numbers that seemed like a dream just a few years ago. But as Seattle continues to build out protected bike lanes, especially in and near the city center, more people are using them to get around.
What's truly wild is that these increases are happening even before the downtown waterfront bike path is open. Once that happens, still scheduled for late this year, it will immediately become one of the most popular bike paths in the whole city. And Lime is going to carry a lot of those trips.