A second rentable scooter option is now available in Columbus. Lime, the company that deployed its dockless bicycles earlier this summer in Linden, Clintonville and the South Side, placed a number of its electric scooters in those same neighborhoods on Sunday. As of earlier today, though, dozens of the scooters were available to rent Downtown as well.
The arrival of the new Lime scooters comes just a few weeks after the launch of Bird in Columbus. The Bird scooters were initially placed Downtown (including the Area District), in the Short North and in Bexley. The city of Bexley, however, removed the scooters, citing legal questions raised by Bird’s business model.
Like Bird scooters, the new Lime scooters cost $1 to unlock and 15 cents a minute to ride. They can be located and unlocked using the Lime app and can be left just about anywhere, although the company urges users not to block sidewalks.
Lime employees gather and recharge the scooters daily, which have a maximum range of around 20 miles and a maximum speed of just under 15 miles per hour.
Jeff Ortega, spokesperson for the Columbus Department of Public Service, said that Lime officials did reach out last week to inform the city of the pending arrival of the scooters. He added that “talks continue with both Lime and Byrd with the intent of seeing how these companies and others can continue to operate in the city in the best way possible while protecting the public’s right of way and ensuring safety.”
Editor’s note: this article was updated to include information from the City of Columbus.