Lime plans to launch e-bike service in St. Paul this month

Bikeshare expansion is coming to St. Paul, possibly in just a matter of weeks.

After the St. Paul City Council approved the expansion, Lime announced it plans to launch service in the city as soon as possible, with the company aiming for mid-August.

Lime is already operating e-bikes in Minneapolis after replacing Nice Ride this year. Now, the company says it will be able to bring back its regional bikeshare program in the Twin Cities for the first time since 2018.

The company also operates e-scooters in both cities.

“The sky’s the limit for micromobilty in the Twin Cities. We’ve operated e-scooters in Minneapolis and Saint Paul for years and we’ve built successful programs based on safety and equity,” LeAaron Foley, the director of government and community relations at Lime, said. “Earlier this year we were given the opportunity to add e-bikes to our fleet of e-scooters in Minneapolis and we are proud to say that the results have been a huge success. We are thrilled we now get to bring that same top of the line e-bike service to Saint Paul, creating the first unified bikeshare program spanning the Twin Cities since 2018. At Lime, we take pride in connecting people to their cities, connecting neighborhoods throughout cities, and connecting residents to jobs and opportunities. With this new unified multimodal program the Twin Cities will be more connected than ever before.”

Lime says it is seeing its best ridership in the Twin Cities since the COVID-19 pandemic this year, with the number of total rides up 92% over last year. The company says its e-scooter rides are up 54% this year and total rides on its e-bikes increased around 50% in June and July compared to Nice Ride’s numbers last year.