Dan Antion

Respect the Ride – #WATWB

Recently, there has been a couple recent announcements regarding Lime Bikes in the city of Hartford. Yes, I’ve written about Lime Bikes before for this blogfest, but these announcements have caused me to want to return. You see, not all the news about Lime Bikes has been good news.

The bikes proved to be more popular than Lime, Inc. or the City of Hartford anticipated. Lime responded by adding another hundred or so bikes to our streets. Recently, they’ve entered an exclusive provider agreement with the city to put electric scooters on the streets for two years. The city has the option to extend the agreement for an additional two years.

For me, Lime Bikes are a fun way to ride around Great River Park early in the morning. I also like the fact that I can take the train into Hartford and ride a bike to my friend’s condo. For many people in Hartford, Lime Bikes are a way to get to the store, or to work, or to a better school. There are many people in Hartford who simply can’t afford to own, maintain, insure and park a car. Lime Bikes add inexpensive and flexible choices to Hartford’s meager public transportation options and that’s a good thing.

The downside of Lime Bikes, and all other brands of rack-less bikes, is that they can be a hazard to pedestrians. People sometimes ride on sidewalks, or they leave the bike in inappropriate locations. Lime has heard the complaints, and they have taken a positive step in response.

As a registered Lime rider, I received an email asking me to commit to:

Respect The Ride Lime’s safety and education campaign is focused on promoting responsible riding habits at every step, from putting on a helmet to parking properly.

I signed up. Fortunately, I wasn’t among the first 25,000people to agree (they received free helmets). I say fortunately, because I have my own helmet, and more importantly, I was happy to see that over 75,000 people made the following commitment:

I hereby pledge to Respect The Ride in support of safe streets, sidewalks and communities.

As part of this pledge, I agree to:

● Ride responsibly at all times
● Wear a helmet while riding
● Abide by all traffic laws and speed limits
● Ride only within designated areas such as streets and bike lanes
● Park properly out of the way of pedestrian walkways, service ramps and metro stops
● Be aware of automobiles, pedestrians and fellow riders

I make this commitment willingly in an effort to help promote smart, sustainable mobility and to ensure a safe environment for all riders and modes of transportation.

The “We are the World” Blogfest has extended its year-long journey and is in its 19th month. This blogfest’s goal is to spread the message of light, hope and love in today’s world. We are challenging all participants to share the positive side of humanity. This month’s co-hosts: Eric Lahti ,Inderpreet Uppal, Shilpa Garg, Peter Nena, Damyanti Biswas,welcome participants and encourage all to join in during future months.#WATWB is a blog hop on the last Friday of every month. Click HERE to check out the intention and rules of the blogfest and feel free to sign upat any time between now and February of 2019.

This was my ride. Perhaps the last Lime Bike I’ll see until spring.
I can cover over a mile on the Lime Bike in the time I have to visit the park.
No better use for a Lime Bike that to go fishing
I took the Lime Bike to the south end of Great River Park.
I think I see my ride. Not the car, the Lime Bike.
There you go, Lime Bike. All better.
Lime Bike Down !!!
Returning to Union Station on the second Lime Bike I rented that day.
After the ballgame, I spied a gaggle of Lime Bikes. I had time for another ride through the park, before my train. Why not?
Lime Bikes!
The Lime Bikes are showing up in the park on a regular basis.

57 comments

  1. It would be interesting to compare rates of theft of the bikes. In northern England they tried it in one city – a lot were stolen,smashed up. (It was in collaboration with a Chinese company) yet it seems like a success in this area. If we were drinking just outside Penn station perhaps this would be a time for diatribes and sidetracks on infrastructure – throwing in European cities where cycling has been the norm for so long versus everything everywhere else which seems to be a disaster in one form or another with occasional accidental successes like lime bikes. Cynicism with coffee this morning :)

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    • I have a friend on Facebook who posts these awful photos from California. Things like a pile of scooters outside an exit of a building or 10 bikes completely blocking the sidewalk at a corner. Most of the ones I’ve seen in Hartford have been neatly organized and parked out of the way. I really do hope this works.

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      • Dan, San Diego, California has green bikes! Changed from peddle to electric. Peddle bikes were stolen & stripped down. Not sure if the idea works well yet. Seems to be a mess in areas, especially close to downtown. 📚🎶 Christine

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        • Thanks for the update, Christine. I have a friend near LA who also says it’s a mess. I’m tempted to blame CA, but I know that I can’t.

          These programs started relatively recently. I do think they will work out the issues. There isn’t anything on a Lime Bike that a real bike rider would want. They are low-end bikes to be sure. But, I can ride one where I would never take my bike, even if I could.

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          • I agree. The bike problem seems to be in areas where the homeless live. They stripped down bikes for their own use. I wonder how the city will remedy the problem! They try to accommodate their needs, but apparently not all. 📚🎶 C

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  4. Two thumbs up for Hartford and Lime Bikes and I applaud you, Dan, for taking the pledge. The lime bikes are now in Green Bay and it will be interesting to see if that goes well and if they one day show up in Appleton. The issue really is how well people take care of the bikes and the respect they give to vehicles and pedestrians.

    I imagine you will be anxious for spring again so that you can make use of the Lime Bikes. Thanks for sharing this story with #WATWB and have a wonderful Friday!

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    • Thanks Mary. I’m not sure why it’s working as well as it is in Hartford. I’m also not sure what they are doing with them for the winter, I haven’t seen any at the park in the past month.

      I was talking to a kid riding one to a magnet school near where I exit the highway. He said the bus ride is over an hour, but he can get there in 15 minutes on a bike. If he’s lucky, and there’s a bike there when he gets out of school, he’s home in no time. I think that’s a cool thing.

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  6. Let’s hope the Lime Bikes don’t suffer the fate of one bad apple in the barrel…..that’s all it takes to ruin it for everyone. I don’t use them myself but I applaud those who do and are willing to follow those common sense rules. Hats off to you for taking the pledge.
    🔹 Ginger 🔹

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    • Thanks Ginger. I always tried to leave them in a safe place, and I have to say, I’ve usually found one in a safe place. I also stopped one day, to pick one up that had probably blown over in an overnight storm. Maybe it can usher in a wave of good manners – who knows?

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  7. We have biking clubs here that pretty much adhere to the rules of the road. It is the rogue riders that ride against traffic that frustrate me. And those that think traffic lights don’t pertain to them.

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    • I’ve seen those people here, and I get angry and I worry, because sooner or later, they will get clipped. People don’t understand that when you ride a bike toward traffic, you dramatically reduce the amount of time a driver has to process the information. It’s not like a pedestrian, bikes can’t get out of the way as easily.

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    • I saw this earlier, Steve but I just got it – nicely done. That should be their tag line :-)

      I think it was a nice gesture, and I like that they are addressing the issue directly with the riders as opposed to some clause in their terms and conditions.

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  11. I see commercial bike racks all over the city, especially near the colleges. Someone must be using those bikes, although I haven’t actually seen anyone riding one. I do see a lot of people riding electric scooters, but apparently they’re provided by medical insurance or some public program because I haven’t seen any electric scooter racks. I think the scooters are actually more dangers on the road than the bikes. We all know to look out for bikes (which usually stay to the side of the road), but the scooter drivers tend to ride right down the middle of the drive lane, at 5 mph.

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    • Thanks CM – It varies from city to city. Some bikes have to be ridden from rack to rack. Some, like Lime, are rackless. You get on wherever you find one and get off once at your destination. It’s convenient, but there’s no guarantee you’re going to find one when you need it (the app helps you locate the closest bike).

      I don’t like the idea of the scooters. They are scary.

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  12. Huh. You have to sign a pledge to ride one? Sounds like the lawyers have gotten involved here. If you don’t abide by the pledge and cause an accident whose insurance pays for the damages? That’s what I think of first when I see those bikes around.

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  13. I’m glad to see Lime Bike and its registered riders are being neighborly. I hope the scooter users do the same. It’s makes it very difficult–oh, let’s be honest, IMPOSSIBLE for people with mobility/visual impairments to navigate the sidewalks with bikes/scooters in the way. Three rousing cheers all around for the ones who care!

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  14. I read a story just yesterday about someone mowing down a 90 yrs. old woman on one of those bikes. I sure hope since it was rented with an app they’re able to get her medical bills paid for by the one who mowed her down. I’ve seen one bike was thrown into an urban lake, and others laying in the middle of the sidewalk blocking the way. It just makes my blood boil.

    75,000 strong pledging to do the right thing is wonderful. I hope the few bad apples who don’t follow the rules don’t wreck the whole thing.

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  16. We have that system here too as well as motorized scooters and those Segway tours. I’d love to do it sometime but I have a real problem using my credit cards in public places like parking garages and other systems. They require it. I have enough trouble using it a gas station without hyperventilating. 🙈

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    • I registered with Lime and preloaded the app with $10. I got a bunch of free rides, so I still have a few rides left. I am somewhat cautious about using credit cards in public but soon it will be the only choice, or so it seems.

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  17. So many people pledging to support safe safe riding/driving, safe streets, sidewalks and communities . . . that is one of the best things happening on earth. If we don’t ensure our safety and safety of others, where will we be, indeed? I wish I could convince even ten people to ride/drive safely in these parts. Thanks for posting for #WATWB.

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  20. 75,000 people! That’s seriously impressive. Our town doesn’t offer anything like that – we were hard pressed to convince them we needed even the barest minimum of public transportation. 🙄

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    • Well, that’s 75,000 spread across all the cities they serve, but it’s still impressive, especially given how fast the people signed up. I can’t believe they did it for the helmets. Most riders either have a helmet or don’t wear one. I was surprised to see Hartford agree to electric scooters. They had a problem last summer with city kids riding scooters in an illegally on highways and through parks. I hope this works out, it does provide necessary options to a lot of people.

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          • They might have – I usually try and go back to the oldest one I have access to – whew and hope I still can because I am not sure I would still blog with the last updated editor – it felt all dumbed down and clunky too (couidnjust be change is hard) but who knows why they change – I know often it is for ease of use – but sometimes changes are just really really bad!
            Not saying this editor is… and I need to try it still- but all this reminds me of a time when Apple made a huge change to the iTunes – think it was mid 2000s and it was scattered and tough to use – and was miserable – hmm

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            • We went through a similar sequence on our company website (self-hosted WordPress) and it was maddening. THEN, they stopped supporting the theme we were using and we entered a period where if any page needed to be changed, we had to rewrite it from scratch.

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  22. I can add my two cents to C. E. Robinson’s comment about the bikes in San Diego….was scary as a pedestrian along San Diego Bay in the downtown area when I was down there in October…the riders there are mostly tourist with little regard to the crest of the masses walking the bay….great concept in theory though.

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