Rochester riders have logged more than 60K miles on scooters, Lime says

It has been nearly three months since Lime scooters began hitting the streets of Rochester. And whether you have taken a joy ride or two, relied on them for transportation, or been nearly run over by one on a sidewalk, it’s fair to say they have become a major presence in the city’s downtown.

With temperatures cooling down and the scooters increasingly becoming stationary, we decided to check in with city administration to get their perspective on how the program has gone so far. Here’s what we learned.

The raw data

Local riders have taken more than 48,000 trips on the scooters since the pilot program was introduced at the beginning of August.

Of those trips, the median ride time has been about 8 minutes while the median distance has been 0.8 miles, according to data from Lime.

In all, 12,586 different riders have used the electric scooters so far — racking up a total of over 61,000 miles.

The highest period for use has been between 12 and 6 p.m.

Repeat users

While the city was unable to provide specific data in time for this story, officials did tell us that they have noticed an uptick in the number of repeat riders — suggesting that local users are increasingly relying on the dockless scooters as a way of getting from Point A to Point B.

“We had lots of people in the beginning that this was just a quick joy ride; just to check it out, see how much fun it was, where they could go with it,” said Jaymi Wilson, a project manager with the city who is overseeing the pilot phase. “But as you begin to see a higher number of rides per person, that’s when you can tell people are actually using them for transportation.”

While the scooters have primarily been used in the downtown, Wilson said they have also been found scattered all across the city — including at both the north and south Wal-Mart locations.

“People are using them far and wide,” she said.

Focus on EDUCATION

One of the biggest challenges has been keeping riders off of the sidewalks. To that end, the city has worked to put up signage reminding users that, just like bicycles, use of the e-scooters on sidewalks is prohibited.

Wilson said they have also worked with Lime to reinforce the messaging, “so when people opened the app it gives them to a reminder that the scooters are not to be ridden on the sidewalks.”

Altogether, law enforcement has reported 34 incidents related to scooter usage. The largest number of incidences were for reckless driving, followed separately by riding while intoxicated, and then scooter placement.

However, no formal tickets have been issued, according to Wilson. Instead, local police have focused their efforts on education and awareness.

Next steps

The exclusive pilot program with Lime runs through the end of November. Following that phase, the scooters will be pulled off the streets while the city decides how it wants to move forward.

Wilon said discussions have just begun internally, though no formal recommendations will be brought forward until they have had the opportunity to gather and analyze all the available data.

“We wanted to give the pilot some opportunity to have some traction before we got very far into those conversations,” she said.

In addition to the quantitative data provided by Lime, the city also plans to send out a survey to the general public asking for feedback.

Once rules are defined, the city will likely put out a request for proposals. That RFP will be open to all scooter companies, not just Lime; though the company has indicated it would be interested in returning to Rochester.

“They feel like this has been a successful pilot,” said Wilson.

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.