Move over, Divvy: a new form of bike share could be coming to town.
The new bikes are rolling out in cities across the country, including Rockford, which earlier this month got 500 bright green bikes maintained by the San Mateo company LimeBike. That company is one of several vying to operate in Chicago—causing concerns among other operators because Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s former top adviser, David Spielfogel, is on LimeBike’s board of directors.
New art installation in Dallas, Texas, titled: Le Cycle Futile. #limebike pic.twitter.com/iWutS6naFc
— Mckenzi Skinner (@MckenziSkinner) March 20, 2018
Officials also want to keep vendors from undercutting Divvy—which received $30 million in city and federal funding to help it launch—and driving it out of business.
Someone lost their #limebike pic.twitter.com/yT9snhQtzs
— RobertB (@ThePiratesofECU) March 21, 2018
Gabriel Scheer, director of strategic development for LimeBike, said city staffers asked vendors how they planned to serve all parts of Chicago equitably, and how they would provide access for people without smartphones or credit cards. The officials also asked how the companies would ensure the bikes didn’t create conflict with other uses of public space. “Basically they wanted to know, do you play well with others,” Scheer said.
After chatting with a few LimeBike users, who seemed stoked about the service, we took a spin north on the lovely path along the Rock River. At one point, a jogger yelled, “Go LimeBike! Making Rockford better.”
John Greenfield edits the transportation news website Streetsblog Chicago.
