A Good Idea for Everyone
By Dan Murphy
Most of our Westchester readers outside the City of Yonkers may not have heard of a company called Lime Bike (limebike.com), or if you have heard of it, you may have caught some of the negative media reports that came from a story about some of the bikes being vandalized in Yonkers.
This coverage about the company, its bikes and its mission was basically “fake news,” which presented a narrative that overstated the negative, and completely understated – or ignored – the positive piece of this story, this company, and its shiny new bikes, which landed in Yonkers last month.
LimeBike is a company that provides dock-free bike rentals, with the concept being that it will provide mobility solutions that will reduce traffic congestion, promote healthy living by giving travelers a new, easy and affordable option to get to their destination.
For some, LimeBike’s concept is difficult to understand because it has no central docking station and the bikes are not locked up in the traditional way. Riders can unlock the bikes through a mobile application, which they can also use to pay for the bike ride – $1 for 30 minutes. A built-in GPS monitors where the bikes go and are located, and the beauty and freedom of the company’s concept is that you can leave the bike outside your home if you are done. Moreover, the bikes sport airless tires and internal gears to enhance durability
Unlike traditional dock-based systems, Lime requires no public funding or subsidies, meaning there is no cost to the taxpayer or local government. LimeBike was already serving more than 50 communities, from smaller cities like South Bend, Ind., to the major metropolitan markets of Seattle, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., before arriving in Yonkers last month.
As I traveled around Yonkers last week, I noticed dozens of kids and adults enjoying the unmistakable Lime bikes. I saw little or no abuse or vandalism, and as I saw the riders I thought about the kind of impact LimeBike could have on someone who either can’t afford to buy a bike or lives in an apartment too small to keep a bike.
When I got home that evening and over the weekend of May 19 and 20, I read social media regarding Westchester and noticed that LimeBike had gotten caught in the middle of a budget battle in Yonkers, and that a misleading story about a wonderful and successful idea was running through the social news circuit in Westchester.
The “fake news” about LimeBike in Yonkers was that there was rampant incidents of vandalism and abuse. The vandalism was used by members of the Yonkers Police Department and Yonkers Fire Department to spread not only a fake narrative, but to blame the new bikes for the budget plight in the city, which is facing more than 400 layoffs, including 100 police officers and firefighters.
As stated above, LimeBike is provided to Yonkers at no cost to the taxpayers or the city. So their arrival had no impact, positive or negative, on the Yonkers city budget. What was also misleading was that the vandalized LimeBike photos, which quickly spread across social media and also landed on News 12 and on the front page of the Journal News, were of less than 10 bikes, out of 1,000 LimeBikes that were placed on the streets of Yonkers.
The positive response to LimeBike in Yonkers, which I witnessed firsthand, was also reported on but never made it through the negative and misleading narrative before it.
“On Monday morning, Lime celebrated our launch in Westchester County,” said Gil Kazimirov, Lime’s regional general manager. “By Friday, riders in Yonkers had already amassed over 3,000 rides, including 1,000-plus rides on Wednesday alone. That trip-per-bike-per-day ratio places this moderately-sized community of 200,000 among the top performing bikeshare cities anywhere in the U.S.
“Lime has become instantly popular with Yonkers residents and visitors. We are seeing outstanding ridership – some of the highest usage of our bikes in such a short amount of time. The most exciting part is that this is happening in a very hilly city.”
Once again, the “dump on Yonkers” concept reared its ugly head in the Westchester media market. This time, unfortunately, it was started by residents and city employees in Yonkers who preferred to use a false narrative in the hopes of settling a budget dispute.
But what you are reading now is the truth. LimeBike is a wonderful concept that brings the possibility of riding a bike to a larger segment of our population. And LimeBike’s organic distribution lets riders leave their bikes when they are done, and its affordability makes it a great, healthy and eco-friendly bargain.
Perhaps LimeBike will come to more communities in Westchester. It’s working in Yonkers, believe it!
