Lime scooters, e-bikes returning to Minneapolis for 2025 riding season
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Scooters and e-bikes will resume service this spring and summer in Minneapolis after officials confirmed a partnership with Lime for 2025.
What we know
Minneapolis officials say the city has entered into license agreements with Lime and Spin to participate in its Shared Bike and Scooter Program for the 2025 season.
An announcement from the company says ridership increased by 59% from 2023 to 2024, as its fleet of products was ridden 1.5 million times in Minneapolis – its busiest year ever in operation.
Bikes and scooters will be available for rent beginning Monday, April 7, through the company's app.
According to city officials, all shared vehicles are restricted to a maximum speed of 15 mph with further speed restrictions in higher pedestrian areas.
By the numbers
Since Lime launched in Minneapolis in July 2018, the company has since grown to gross $810 million in gross bookings in 2024 – increasing 31% over 2023.
More than 24 million riders took over 175 million rides in 2024, up 30% from 2023 – equating to six rides per second.
Lime began operating in St. Paul in 2023.
What they're saying
"We're deeply grateful for the opportunity to return to Minneapolis, where ridership has been soaring for years… In 2025, we plan to build on past success and expand on our commitments to and investments in this city, continuing to fund our pioneering Lime Access and equity pricing programs, bringing new, state-of-the-art hardware like our throttle e-bikes, and creating jobs and economic activity," said LeAaron Foley, Senior Director of Government and Community Relations at Lime in a statement.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Independent pharmacies welcome legislation targeting drug middlemen
The Brief The legislation would create a single state-run pharmacy benefit manager to negotiate drug prices for Medicaid plans. Independent pharmacies often lose money on prescriptions because drug middlemen do not always reimburse them. The changes would take effect in 2027. (FOX 9) - Independent pharmacies applauded legislation that is awaiting the governor's signature, saying it would help them stay afloat as many of them struggle to survive. What we know Legislation awaiting Governor Tim Walz' signature would create a state-run pharmacy benefit manager, which would negotiate drug prices for Medicaid plans. The goal is to simplify the process, which now involves multiple pharmacy benefit managers, and increase transparency. The legislation would also require the state-run group to report prices, rebates and discounts to a state commissioner. Under the legislation, a single pharmacy benefit manager overseen by the state would be required to pay independent pharmacies for each prescription they fill. That requirement would take effect in 2027. In the meantime, the state would pay pharmacies a flat fee of $4.50 per prescription to keep them afloat. The backstory Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, negotiate drug prices for insurance plans. Many of them are owned by insurance companies. Within the last year, the Federal Trade Commission has investigated pharmacy benefit managers. It released two scathing reports, accusing them of unfair business practices. What they're saying "You're paying the pharmacies better, pharmacies stay open, patients have choice where they get their care..." said pharmacist John Hoeschen, owner of St. Paul Corner Drug. "If you're losing $35, $40, $50, $55, $60, $70 dollars a prescription, what else can you sell to make that up? You can't. That's an unsustainable model. That is not a recipe for longevity in this business." Dig deeper Mark Cuban, the billionaire investor who has criticized pharmacy benefit managers and who started his own company to sell prescriptions at affordable rates, said the legislation in Minnesota does not do enough. In a post on X on Sunday, Cuban said "all it is doing is saying you want more details but keep doing business the way your PBMs always have.... They will just move things around to different places." What's next The legislation is awaiting the governor's signature.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
At least 6 Waymo autonomous vehicles have been vandalized amid anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles
At least six Waymo self-driving cars have been damaged by the violence taking place in Los Angeles in recent days amid protests against federal immigration raids, according to a representative for the company. The autonomous vehicles, as well as some Lime electric scooters, have been vandalized, and in some cases set on fire and completely destroyed. Videos of people climbing the Waymo robotaxis and bashing in the windshields, as well as clips of Waymo cars engulfed in flames, were shared widely online, quickly becoming key imagery of the protests in downtown Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department warned people on Sunday to steer clear of the area, due to the risk of toxin exposure from electric batteries catching on fire. All of the self-driving taxis deployed by Waymo, which is owned by Alphabet, are electric. 'Burning lithium-ion batteries release toxic gases, including hydrogen fluoride, posing risks to responders and those nearby,' the department warned in a social media post. No Waymo riders or employees were harmed during the incidents, and passengers had exited vehicles before they were vandalized, according to a Waymo spokesman. The company stopped service downtown on Monday as the protests continued, though Waymo continued to operate in the broader Los Angeles region. 'Out of an abundance of caution given the recent activity, we removed vehicles from Downtown Los Angeles and will not be serving that specific area of LA at the moment,' a Waymo spokesman said in a statement, noting that the company is working with the police department and other authorities to assess the situation. It's not clear whether protesters decided to specifically target the Waymo cars or the Lime scooters, and it's possible that the vehicles and scooters were in an unfortunate place as the protests escalated. The Los Angeles Department referred all questions to Waymo and said it did not know if any incident reports had been filed at this time. Waymo declined to comment on the total estimated damage, and Lime declined to comment. Analysts have estimated that the Waymo Jaguar I-Pace SUVs, which are equipped with radar and lidar equipment, cost between $150,000 to $200,000 each. In San Francisco, where anti-ICE protests have also been ongoing, there was another isolated instance of a Waymo being vandalized, according to the company. Self-driving vehicles have periodically become the targets of vandals, with instances of tire slashing or people throwing fireworks into the vehicles. A couple years ago, a man with a hatchet chased several self-driving Cruise taxis around the streets of San Francisco—sometimes when there were passengers inside. President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to intervene in Los Angeles on Saturday. Protesters clashed with police, dumpsters were vandalized, and the Los Angeles Police Department shared videos on social media of a store being looted. By Monday, the protests had calmed, though there was still a large group of protestors marching downtown. Waymo, which operates in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Austin, and is planning to launch in Austin and Miami, is currently the only robotaxi company in the U.S. offering commercial operations in several different markets. Tesla is preparing to launch a robotaxi service in Austin this month, although the rollout will be very limited with just 10 to 20 vehicles at first. Waymo said it had surpassed 10 million paid rides near the end of May. This story was originally featured on
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Miami Herald
Latest Waymo setback raises serious questions about its future
Even before this weekend's protest violence, the public sentiment concerning driverless ride-sharing vehicles has been tense. On Sunday, June 8, in Los Angeles, several Waymo autonomous taxis were set ablaze during protests against ICE raids in the city. According to the Los Angeles Times, protesters who had converged on downtown L.A. Sunday morning to protest the immigration enforcement raids ordered by President Donald Trump closed traffic for several hours. Related: Tesla's robotaxi rollout is alarming the public, new report shows As police officers pushed protesters back to clear the roadway, a group descended upon five Waymo taxis lined up on the street around 5 p.m. local time. The vehicles' tires were slashed, the windows were smashed, and graffiti was sprayed across the cars. Some protesters even threw Lim E-scooters into the shells of the burning vehicles. By Monday morning, the Los Angeles police Department declared downtown L.A. to be an unlawful assembly area and ordered protesters to leave following a third day of protests. While the images of the carnage are stunning, this isn't the first time Waymo vehicles have been targeted for vandalism. Waymo did not immediately respond to TheStreet's request for comment. California, the home of Silicon Valley, has been at the cutting edge when it comes to autonomous driving. It was one of the pioneering states to allow companies to test out their new tech. Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet (GOOGL) , operates in the state, along with startups Apolo, AutoX, Nuro, WeRide, and Zoox. But with so many options, Californians may be getting autonomous vehicle fatigue. Nearly 80% of California voters support requiring a human safety operator in self-driving trucks and delivery vehicles, and just 33% of voters express a favorable general impression of autonomous vehicles. Related: Tesla rival makes huge announcement about what's coming in 2026 Actions on the street seem to bear out these statistics. This weekend wasn't the first time protesters in California have targeted autonomous vehicles. One group of protestors, Safe Street Rebels, has been fighting against autonomous driving for years. While they are not just anti-autonomous driving (they oppose pretty much all driving), they have seen great success using traffic cones to render the vehicles useless. The safety systems on the vehicles recognize traffic cones as being major red flags, so a single cone can disable a Waymo until someone comes and removes it. Meanwhile, Safe Street Rebels say that their objections regarding autonomous driving are numerous. Issues include a lack of accountability, the fact that their fleets "cannot be cited for traffic violations," increased traffic, the effect on human taxi drivers, and surveillance, among other concerns. The group has documented hundreds of crash and traffic incidents involving autonomous vehicles over the years and says the vehicles make California streets more dangerous, not safer. Tesla plans to bring its own autonomous vehicles to the streets of Austin, Texas, for the first time in mere days. The company's robotaxi program has had its share of fits and starts, but it finally appears ready for the spotlight. A new report suggests that the public isn't ready for the moment, however. "Consumers are skeptical of the full self-driving (FSD) technology that undergirds the robotaxi proposition, with 60% considering Tesla's full self-driving 'unsafe,' 77% unwilling to utilize full self-driving technology, and a substantial share (48%) believing full self-driving should be illegal," the May 2025 edition of the Electric Vehicle Intelligence Report (EVIR) states. It adds, though, that younger, higher-income individuals who live in urban areas are more open to autonomous driving technology. Despite trepidation from the public, Waymo One registers over a quarter of a million paid weekly trips across Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin, with plans to expand in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C., in 2026. Waymo's current fleet features over 1,500 vehicles spread across its four current host cities, but by next year, it expects to more than double its fleet with more than 2,000 new additions. Related: Elon Musk's feud with Trump is hurting an unexpected investment The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
