TAKE A BIKE: IN SOME CITIES AND COLLEGE CAMPUSES, THE BIKE-SHARING CRAZE IS THE FASTEST THING ON 'TWO WHEELS.

AuthorLeggett, Page
PositionFIRST TAKE

They're scattered all over some of the state's biggest metro areas and on college campuses, lined up neatly or overturned in a heap.

Dockless bikes--the kind you can hop on, take for a spin and deposit literally anywhere --have invaded, on a noble mission to help ease traffic congestion, reduce fuel consumption and decrease greenhouse gases that scientists say are contributing to global warming.

"The benefits are huge," says Sidney McLaurin, the Durham-based regional manager for bike-sharing company Lime. "We're helping reduce the number of small trips people make by car, which is in turn reducing carbon emissions and [improving] public health." The San Mateo, Calif.-based company, which recently shortened its name from LimeBike with the rollout of electric scooters in some cities, is one of 600 global bike-share companies in a market that could reach $5.8 billion by 2020. Lime's bikes are available in Charlotte, Durham and Greensboro and on a half-dozen N.C. college campuses.

Renting a dockless bike is almost as easy as riding one. Lime's app can be downloaded on a smartphone in less than five minutes. A QR code opens the GPS-enabled lock on the bike; riders close the lock when reaching their destinations. "[The app] knows you're done with your trip and bills you," McLaurin says. Lime charges $1 per half-hour; students get a discounted rate of 50 cents. Texts and in-app notifications remind users to lock the bike when finished. The app also includes a map that identifies locations of available bikes.

The bikes can help solve a common problem facing commuters when they step off the bus or train but still need to travel a short distance to reach their destinations. "Usually, the person who uses one of our bikes is making a trip of less than 2 miles," McLaurin says. "It's less about the bike than about being a convenient mode of transportation."

Even so, Lime already has converted many non-cyclists into occasional riders. "We're seeing bikes ridden to and from bus stops, which tells us bike share is helping people with their first mile-last mile connections," says Suzanne Williams, associate director of campus access and travel demand at UNC Greensboro, which launched Lime's service in June 2017 with 135 bikes. "We've also noticed small groups of students riding with friends during weekends, just for fun."

Though some people had concerns that bikes might clutter sidewalks or streets, at UNC Greensboro the bikes are ridden and parked...

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