Lime Readies Fleet for World Cup Ridership Surge
Lime is expecting a ridership surge on its e-bikes and scooters on par with the Super Bowl victory parade during Seattle's FIFA World Cup matches. Staff are gearing up to handle the demand.
Bike Share
SDOT Bike Corral Plan Draws Fire in Pioneer Square
The City of Seattle is planning 21 on-street bike corrals in place of illegal parking spots abutting intersections. But a debate over the aesthetic impact on Pioneer Square could overshadow the proposal’s benefits and derail the project.
Sunday Video: What Drives Bikeshare Success and Mediocrity?
Bikeshare growth has waxed and waned over the years. The impact of systems vary greatly today in terms of cost, coverage, equipment availability, and compatibility. Uytae Lee of About Here digs into what sets apart North American bikeshare systems.
Seattle Scootershare Ridership Continues to Surge, as Critics Make Regulatory Push
Seattle’s scootershare and bikeshare program continues to boom, setting a new ridership record in 2025. At the same time, the program could be at risk of falling victim to its own popularity, with increasing calls to beef up regulations, particularly on scooters.
Seattle’s Scooter and Bikeshare Boom Reaches New Heights
Seattle bikeshare and scootershare companies clocked 6.3 million rides in 2024, up 28% over 2023 and a record high. The momentum has continued in the first quarter of 2025, with ridership up 76% over the first quarter of 2024. If this pace is maintained, Seattle is on track to exceed 10 million ride
Bikeshare’s Limited Access to Seattle Parks Could Soon Be Changing
Seattle’s popular bike and scootershare programs have been kept out of major Seattle parks. Could a change be on the horizon?
Bikeshare and Scootershare Booms in Seattle, with Lime Leading the Pack
Lime is riding high, as other micromobility operators retool or pull out of Seattle. Seattle’s dockless bikeshare and scootershare program continues to boom, collectively reaching a new high of nearly five million rides in 2023. That works out to more than 13,000 rides per day. The Seattle Department
E-Bikes Are Taking Off in Seattle
With prices dropping and a state rebate coming soon, e-bike sales are booming. Here are tips for those looking to hop on the e-cargo wagon. E-bikes are having a moment in Seattle and beyond. Prices are dropping, sales are climbing, and more and more people are discovering
King County Board of Health to Vote on Repeal of Helmet Law
This Thursday, the King County Board of Health will vote on a proposed repeal of the county’s helmet law for cyclists as well as a companion resolution that affirms helmet use, encourages other jurisdictions to repeal helmet laws, and supports broader measures that ensure the cyclists’ safety. While Washington
GIG Car Share Expands Homearea and Micromobility Options Grow in Seattle
After five months in the Seattle market, GIG Car Share is expanding the homearea for its vehicles. The expansion increases the homearea from 13 square miles to 23 square miles. New areas include Ballard, Columbia City, Green Lake, Mount Baker, Phinney Ridge, and parts of Madrona and Leschi. An additional
Lime Rolls Out Scootershare in Seattle, LINK and Wheels a Month Away
On Wednesday, Lime launched their first 500 shareable e-scooters in Seattle to accompany their relaunch of around 500 bikes in June. This launch is a part of Seattle’s scootershare pilot program, which was greenlit by the city council last week. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) also selected
City Council Greenlights Scootershare Pilot, Pedersen Dissents
Scootershare finally got the go ahead on Monday as the Seattle City Council voted eight-to-one to approve a pilot program. Transportation Chair Alex Pedersen was the only no vote on the legislation, which permits scooters on streets, bike lanes, and recreational trails, but prohibits riding them on most
Lime Relaunches Bikeshare in Seattle with 500 Jump Bikes
Today Lime Bikes announced it had relaunched bikeshare with about 500 bikes, making Seattle the second city where Lime has relaunched bikes. The bikes are available only through the Uber app currently, but Lime plans to relaunch its own app down the road to provide another rental option. The fleet
Uber Pulls the Plug on Jump Bikes After Buying Stake in Lime
Seattle once again finds itself without bikeshare. On Friday, Uber pulled the plug on its JUMP app after hitching its bike wagon to its competitor Lime in a deal worth $170 million. The Uber-led investment was not quite enough to pose a majority stake in Lime, which was recently
JUMP Is the Last Bikeshare Standing After Lime Pulls Out
JUMP is the only bikeshare operator left standing in Seattle in 2020. Although the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has permitted more than 10,000 bikeshare bikes in the city, JUMP’s estimated 3,500 e-assist bikes are the sum total for now, after Lime suspended its bikeshare program
Lime Trims Staff and Bikeshare Fleet but Says It’s Not Closing Up Shop… Yet
Update: Despite earlier denials, Lime announced December 24th that it was closing down its bikeshare in Seattle and pulling all its bikes by December 31st. Lime said it will return in the spring with scooters. Lime Bikes dominated the first year of dockless bikeshare in Seattle, but the second year
How Will Emerging Mobility Technologies Reshape Seattle’s Right-of-Way?
Meet Veemo, an electric assist vehicle that advertises itself as “bike share meets car share.” From a legal and technical standpoint, Veemo is an electric assist tricycle, or e-trike, but Veemo also includes an enclosure to shield riders from the elements that makes it resemble the tiny car super
For a Brief Moment, Scooters Took Over Seattle’s City Council Plaza
Excitement over Mayor Durkan’s change of heart on scooter sharing created a festive atmosphere at a recent Seattle City Council event; however, details remain to be worked out before a scooter share pilot can be rolled out across Seattle. Just one day after Mayor Jenny Durkan announced her plans
Sunday Video: The Urbanist Talks Bicycle $$$ and Seattle City Council
Our own Senior Editor and Vision Zero reporter, Ryan Packer, made a recent guest appearance on Wheeltalk Seattle to talk all things bike.
‘Ask the Trauma Docs!’ Mayor Durkan Says Scooters Are Too Dangerous
While the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has a “New Mobility Playbook” touting trendy transportation options, it doesn’t have a e-scooter program. We got a hint at why in Mayor Jenny Durkan’s comments at Civic Cocktail last week. “No helmet, no experience; it goes 18 miles per
Council Lays Out Basic Bike Network, Approves Bikeshare Permit, Paves Way for Columbia City Midrise
The Seattle City Council had an outsized agenda on Monday passing wide-ranging transportation and housing legislation. Banner legislation to set out a timeline for building the Basic Bike Network in the Center City and a permanent private bikeshare permit program made it out of the chamber, though with some
Please Don’t Mess Up Bike Share, City Council!
I really, really love bike share. They aren’t always where I need them but they are so convenient when they are. They save me from worrying about locking my bike up. From worrying about putting my bike on a bus bike rack (often full, always annoying). From having to
After a Year of Bikeshare Battles, Lime is Winning
Seattle’s dockless bikeshare program–with three privately-run operators so far–recently celebrated its first anniversary. One year in, Lime is clearly leading the pack. With buzz building and largely rave reviews, users had taken 1.4 million bikeshare rides across the three companies by July 1st. One million
SDOT Wants More Revenue to Facilitate an Expanded Private Bikeshare Program with Up to 20,000 Bikes
Seattle hopes to have a permanent permit program in place by August 31st for private bikeshare. The permanent program would would lift the cap on the number of bikes to 20,000, impose street use fees on bikeshare companies operating in the city, and add new regulatory requirements for the
Bikeshare Ridership is Up after a Weak Winter, Council Set to Approve Permanent Program
The Urbanist has been inquiring about 2018 bikeshare ridership figures for months. As the deadline approaches for a permanent bikeshare permit to be approved by city council, information on how often bikes were getting used recently was hard to come by. On Wednesday, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) finally dropped
How Electric-Assist Bikes Will Make More People Ride
A few weeks ago, a group opposed to adding bike lanes to a North Seattle arterial tweeted out, “Single mothers don’t commute to work on bikes. Privileged #techbros do…” Of course, they got pummeled by hundreds of single moms (and dads) who do indeed bike to work every day.
City Council Gears Up to Pass New Bikeshare Legislation
Today at 2pm, the Seattle City Council will hear a report from the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) on the status of free-floating bikeshare, as the department prepares to begin work on new legislation that will make the pilot program permanent. The report starts with a brief overview of
Mid-Pilot Check-in: Bikeshare Ridership Grows but Rides Per Bike Plummets
The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) released a few bikeshare data morsels to the Pedestrian Advisory Board last week. Seatte’s system of privately-operated free-floating bikeshare continued to post solid numbers in the “Mid-Pilot Check-in.” Buoyed by free ride promotions, the five-month-long pilot program
Seattle’s Bikeshare Pilot Deserves More Scrutiny
Seattle privately-run bikeshare pilot is widely heralded: it’s cheaper, shinier, and more widespread and flexible. There’s just one catch. Besides being better than Pronto Cycle Share was, private bikeshare hasn’t accomplished much yet. After pulling the plug on Pronto Cycle Share in the midst of a
Sunday Video: Free-Floating Bike Share Parking 101
The Seattle Department of Transportation offers some important guidance on where and where not park private bikeshare bikes on sidewalks.
Finding Bikeshare’s Role In Seattle
Last week, Chinese bikeshare company Ofo became the third private bikeshare operator to be given the green light to join the pilot phase of Seattle’s new era in bike share, with the Texas-based operator VBikes apparently coming quickly on Ofo’s heels in the next week or so.
Will Private Bikeshare Poison The Well in Seattle?
After weeks of speculation, the Seattle City Council appears to be rushing to put together a framework that could allow private bikeshare operators to get their bikes onto Seattle’s streets by the height of peak tourist season. Tom Fucoloro at the Seattle Bike Blog has been covering this story
KUOW Rides Along With Ryan Packer In A Farewell To Pronto
Seattle’s bikeshare program (Pronto) is no more, but before the system was dismantled over the weekend, our Senior Editor Ryan Packer did a ride-along with KUOW staff on Friday. KUOW’s Matt Martin interviewed Packer on his last ride to work in Downtown from his Capitol Hill residence–
So Long, Pronto Bike Share
Today marks an unusual day in Seattle: we are shutting down an entire mode of transportation. Two and a half years after Pronto! Cycle Share launched in Downtown Seattle, Capitol Hill, and the University District with 50 stations and 500 bikes, operations will cease at midnight tonight after the Seattle
What Taichung Bikeshare Can Teach Seattle
Here’s what I know about cycling, based on stuff Seattle people say: * Without good cycling infrastructure, the only people who’ll venture out on a bike are spandex-encased No Fear types. * Even they won’t cycle in the rain. Taichung is a city of 2.75 million (a
Murray Administration Cuts And Runs On Bikeshare
On Friday afternoon, staff at the Seattle Department of Transportation working on a plan to expand Seattle’s bikeshare program and make it successful had the rug pulled out from under them. In typical Murray Administration fashion, the news came at 5:00 pm, with the press release titled “City
Sunday Video: Citibike + Blaze
While Seattle’s bikeshare system is heading to the grave at the behest of Mayor Ed Murray, New York City’s bikeshare system is innovating new safety features for riders. New York City knows that bikeshare is an essential component of a modern city.
Mayor Ed Murray Declares Seattle Bikeshare Is Dead
In late breaking news Friday, Mayor Ed Murray announced that he has decided to end bikeshare in Seattle. The City had been working toward a temporary shutdown of Pronto in late March until a new system operated by Bewegen could be relaunched. The new bikeshare system was intended to be
Sunday Video: Vancouver’s Multi-Modal Success
Streetfilms highlights the multi-modal success of Vancouver, BC.
Is Bikeshare In Seattle Losing Its Constituency?
After going through a request for proposals process to determine which firm will handle the expansion of bikeshare in Seattle scheduled for Summer of 2017, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has announced that the preferred firm right now is the Quebec-based Bewegen. SDOT chose Bewegen over the current
Pronto Station Comes To UW Station
On Wednesday, Pronto Cycle Share announced at the last minute that they were relocating two stations immediately. Word had been filtering down through various sources that the University of Washington light rail station would be getting a station sometime in August, but not expected was the relocation of a station
Seattle Bikeshare Expansion Could Go Electric
This past weekend The Seattle Times broke the news that Motivate, the current operator of Pronto bike share, is right now coming in second place in the City’s process for requesting proposals for the expansion of the system, currently scheduled to take place next summer. Coming in first is
Portland Launches Biketown Bikeshare Program
This summer both Portland and Vancouver, B.C. follow on Seattle’s heels in launching a citywide bikeshare program. Oddly enough, they both ended up rolling out during the same week, with Portland’s system having been turned on this past Tuesday and Vancouver the following day. Vancouver, however, is