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What Went Wrong with Bike Sharing?
News just in: Lime, the scooter startup, is laying off about 100 workers, or 14 percent of staff, and pulling out of a dozen cities in the U.S. and Latin America, including Atlanta and San Diego where scooter-related deaths have taken place. CEO Joe Kraus is confident that the company will become the “first next-generation mobility company to be profitable” after its cost cutting plans. Kraus also apparently denied the ongoing rumors that the company is running out of cash.
I was introduced to Lime much later than most people, roughly at the beginning of 2019. NYC is one of the few cities that every other transportation besides walking can make no sense, but when I was in San Diego a few months ago, I saw Lime scooters and smiley scooterer (is this a word?) everywhere and felt a very similar positive experience a few months later in Seattle. If I detach myself from the city restrictions of living in NYC, I am completely all for bikes / scooters / skateboards. They are faster than walking, healthier and greener than cars and that little bit of work-out makes you feel so good, plus for most cities, these vehicles are so conveniently spread out over the city that riderscan hop on and off anywhere . Everything sounds perfect. However, as I follow these companies, news on Lime’s lay-off, Go X’s fake permits, and bankruptcies continues to build, and make me question what went wrong. Why is…
