E-scooter riders have come to appreciate the value of bike lanes as much as anyone.
Now Lime is trying to channel that energy into safer streets for all of us.
The company is launching their new Lime Action program in partnership with a number of advocacy groups across the US, including the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.
“As people around the world are taking action to support racial justice, safer streets and cleaner air, we are excited to provide a platform for our millions of riders to turn their passion into action,” said Katie Stevens, Head of Global Policy at Lime. “Lime Action connects our riders with local grassroots organizations making meaningful change in their communities. We’re proud to help riders strengthen their hometowns by getting involved in efforts to create safer, calmer streets, reduce congestion and harmful emissions from car traffic, and fight systemic racism and injustice.”
Lime will provide their partner organizations with access to a number of advocacy tools, as well as directing their users to get involved with local organizations like the LACBC.
However, it light of today’s issues, safer streets in the traditional sense are just part of the fight.
The Lime Action partnerships and organizations will enable our riders to engage on issues that range from those directly impacting their rides, such as safer streets, to making transportation and our cities as a whole more equitable, and to helping make our world more sustainable:
- Safer Streets: Lime riders are often encountering bike lanes for the first time on a scooter– and quickly discover how street space issues between cars and other modes of transportation can affect their safety. Lime Action will provide a way to translate this awareness into action to support campaigns for safer street infrastructure, including bike lanes, greenways, and cycle tracks.
- Social Justice: Lime believes in strengthening our cities, and that goes beyond safe infrastructure. That’s why Lime Action partners with local organizations supporting re-entry for formerly incarcerated people, addressing institutional racism, providing career training and meaningful employment, and increasing opportunities for underprivileged youth.
- Sustainability: The COVID-19 crisis has driven home the impact car travel has on our local air quality, with major improvements to clean air in cities when car use is minimized — but these reductions are already being erased as cities begin to recover. Lime riders already help to contribute to reductions in car use, with a quarter of all rides replacing a car trip, and all trips being powered by 100% renewable energy. Lime Action provides additional ways to support cleaner air by getting involved in local environmental and sustainability campaigns.
Lime also has a program that allows users to donate a small additional percentage to the LACBC and other organizations at the end of their rides.
Although it would be nice to see the company put its money where its mouth is, by committing to donate a few cents from every ride to the advocacy groups they partner with, which could provide a steady revenue stream for groups that desperately need it.
But this is a great start. Because scooter users need safe and fair streets as much as we do.
And we can definitely use their help to demand change from our elected leaders.
Meanwhile, a writer for Medium says the coronavirus may mark the turning point to profitability for scooter companies, by providing a safer alternative to transit.
………
An editorial from Bicycling calls for support for national and local bicycling organizations working for more racial diversity.
Here in Los Angeles, they mention the Bahati Foundation, Legion of Los Angeles, and Alterra Home Loans Cycling Team in Houston and LA.
All of which are worthy of your time, money and efforts.
But I’d also include local standouts like East Side Riders Bike Club, which is feeding hundreds of people who might otherwise go hungry this summer, and South LA’s Black Kids on Bikes, just to name a few.
………
He gets it.
After celebrating the newly carfree State Street pedestrian plaza, and calling for everyone to wear masks when they go there, a Santa Barbara columnist had this to say.
In all this forced solitude and isolation, people are rediscovering the simple joys of one of mankind’s greatest inventions: the bicycle. Not to state the obvious, but there are few better ways to get out and about while maintaining a safe social distance. Hazards and Bicycle Bob’s report their bike repair waiting lists longer than Trump’s Tulsa rally reservation list — only there are no K-Pop agitators and saboteurs involved. Bikes that sell for $500 flew out the door a month ago. Electric bikes are everywhere.
With so few cars on the road, the streets are safer. For a while, every day felt just like Sunday morning.
He goes on to criticize plans to ban bikes from the plaza, as we noted a few days ago.
And ends with this line.
There’s hope. Humans, after all, remain the only species that can ride a bike or snap their fingers.
So someone should tell him about this.
And this.
And this.
And yes, this.
………
You’re invited to Ride Against Racism this Sunday to support Black Lives Matter and protest police brutality.
https://twitter.com/VelTheWonder/status/1276186111186853890
………
Former basketball great Bill Walton is teaming with marathon champ Meb Keflezighi to host another BikeForHumanity virtual bike ride this July to benefit several charities, including No Kid Hungry.
………
This is what it looks like to get run down from behind when a close pass isn’t.
https://twitter.com/getacarhippie/status/1276384959205240833
………
Rapper and producer DJ Mustard’s son is one of us now.
Although someone should tell him to be careful around walls.
https://twitter.com/RapCentury_/status/1275970424476663809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1275970424476663809&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Freal923la.iheart.com%2Fcontent%2F2020-06-25-mustard-teaches-his-son-to-ride-a-bike-it-didnt-go-as-planned%2F
………
Unfortunately, there are far too many bikeways like this in the US, too.
I just sent this picture in reply to a message but I'm posting it again because A WHOLE SERIES OF ACTUAL HUMAN BEINGS PUT THAT CYCLEPATH SIGN ON THAT LAMPPOST AND GOT PAID TO DO SO. @BristolCouncil pic.twitter.com/SCIdTomdHm
— Prof. Ian Walker (@ianwalker) June 25, 2020
………
Former pro Phil Gaimon is back with another video, explaining five common bike collisions and how to avoid them, no matter how man wheels you travel on.
………
Local
Somehow we missed this ranking of America’s best and worst cities for your heart. And for a change, Los Angeles scores well on a national list, checking in at a relatively healthy 20.
The LA Times recommends nine Los Angeles trails to ride your bike. Although they take a very expansive view of LA, including anything north of San Diego and Imperial Counties.
Speaking of The LA Times, they join a long list of news outlets asking if the pandemic-fueled bike boom will continue. Short answer: At least as long as the pandemic does.
Downey’s mayor now has a 26-year old, bike-riding, YIMBY challenger for her city council seat.
This is who we share the road with. A woman walking her dog on a Palmdale bike path was killed by a driver who lost control while fleeing from sheriff’s deputies.
State
The California Transportation Commission, not to be confused with Caltrans, approved $100 million in Complete Streets funding, and began a discussion of equity in transportation.
San Luis Obispo bike riders rode 8.46 miles on Wednesday to honor George Floyd and show solidarity with Black Lives Matter.
National
FloBikes offers advice on how to avoid common bicycling injuries. The ones that happen without falling off.
WTF. Police in Maine report a pickup truck creepily followed an eleven-year old girl as she rode her bike. But never mention that the truck may have had a driver.
Six urban rides to explore Boston for the next time you find yourself in Beantown.
A Rhode Island bike shop is celebrating its 100th anniversary; the shop was founded two years after the last pandemic, and its anniversary comes just in time for the next one.
Life is cheap in upstate New York, where even killing an off-duty cop riding a bike with his son merits nothing more than a traffic ticket.
New York advocates are making progress in efforts to remove the NYPD from traffic enforcement and return responsibility for enforcement to the city’s Department of Transportation.
After years of ticketing and confiscating bicycles from immigrant delivery workers, New York City has finally gotten around to legalizing ebikes. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean they’ll be giving all those bikes back and refunding their money.
New York continues to lap Los Angeles, as it opens up normally congested streets so people can dine al fresco, unlike their Left Coast counterpart.
A Delaware letter writer says the problem isn’t people parking their bikes illegally, it’s that the city didn’t put bike racks where people need them.
Superstar Columbian singer Maluma is one of us too, going for a Miami bike ride with a friend.
International
Road.cc offers advice on whether you should buy a tandem, and how. Hint: Only if you like to ride with someone else.
Gear Patrol says one of the best bike saddles is from a company you’ve never heard of.
Take a virtual bike ride along a London DIY pop-up bike lane.
A London paper offers advice on basic bike maintenance for new riders.
An Indian woman who couldn’t even ride a bike four years ago is now a virtual RAAM champ. And she’s not a small woman, which should give hope to people everywhere.
Competitive Cycling
Pope Francis has joined people around the world in expressing his support for Alex Zanardi, as the Paralympic champ fights to recover from a horrifying handcycling crash; doctors are worried that Zanardi, who already lost his legs in a car racing crash, may lose his eyesight or suffer brain damage.
The Dutch cycling federation considers how to move forward this summer after the country lifted its ban on competitive sports.
Finally…
Not many people can claim they sold bikes to Bruce Springsteen and Richard Nixon. Who needs a clown car when you’ve got bikes?
And Tour de France champ Egan Bernal has clearly mastered the most important bike skills.
Una vida de excesos… pic.twitter.com/zRoqpGLvmH
— Egan Arley Bernal (@Eganbernal) June 24, 2020
………
Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already.
