What are all those green bikes? Who put them there? How do they work? This interview, conducted on May 4, answers some of those questions.
Thea Clarkberg: Can you give a basic description of how the bikes work?
Laurence Clarkberg: Once you download the app, it will tell you what to do. Basically, you find a bike on the map. You walk up to it and scan the QR code on the bike or type in the number, and the bike unlocks. It costs $1 for every 30 minutes. When you’re done, leave the bike anywhere outdoors where it’s accessible to other people and press the red button on the back wheel lock to lock it. The first ride is free! You can also get free rides by introducing a friend to Lime Bike.
TC: When did the bikes come out?
LC: It’s been about three weeks now. We launched on Monday April 23.
TC: So tell me about your job at Lime Bike.
LC: I just started two weeks ago. I applied for the job on Monday and I had my interview on Tuesday and started work on Thursday.
TC: What is a typical day like for your?
LC: I’m an operations specialist. I wake up and take a stroll around to make sure there are no bikes left on the Commons. We’re supposed to keep them on the periphery of the Commons. I note where I need to bring bikes to.
First we do the “unlocks.” Basically, if someone has left a bike unlocked, we have to go and find it. By design, you have to press a lever to lock them. The incentive is, if you don’t lock the bike when you’re done, it will keep charging your card. But some people forget, or maybe some people don’t know.
We can see on a map using GPS which bikes are unlocked and where they are. People also indicate if a bike needs maintenance by putting it into maintenance mode. It won’t show up on the map for people who want to use a bike, and we have to go find it and take it to our workshop to repair.
TC: How many employees does Lime Bike have in Ithaca?
LC: There are three of us running the whole operation in Ithaca. There are two operation specialists, as well as a mechanic. I’m the inner-city bike balancer, and the other employee drives the van and picks up bikes that are more than a couple miles out. I drive around town on my bike.
TC: What does that mean? You carry bikes on your bike?
LC: I happen to have a big electric bike that has running boards on the side with slots in them. You can put the front wheels of two Lime Bikes in those slots and tow them around.
TC: How many Lime Bikes do you typically move with your bike every day?
LC: I probably move 25 or 30 bikes a day. I’ve found that when I use the van, half the time I’m just circling around trying to find parking, and when I do find parking, I have to walk back to the bikes a couple blocks, so picking them up by bike is a lot faster, especially downtown.
TC: Do you ever find the bikes in weird places?
LC: A lot of people are worried that the bike won’t be there when they come back, so they’ll take it somewhere and hide it in various places. When we see a bike on the map, if we don’t see it in real life, we can press a button and it’ll make a noise. It’ll ring the bike. Several times we ring it and we hear it in someone’s house! Really, our relationship with our customers is more important than recovering the bike. I think people who have it in their house will eventually want to use it, and then it will show up on the map. We’re not going to knock on people’s doors, but it’s just sort of funny that we know that they have it.
TC: Have you seen anyone tampering with the bikes?
LC: There was a bike at the skate park that someone had stomped on and broken the lock of. Other than that…not really. Everyone thinks that they’re going to be vandalized. If you think about it, what’s to keep any bike from being vandalized? Or your car? Or anything you own?
Lime Bikes are a new thing, so they’re in people’s mind as something that is vulnerable, but over time they will just become a part of the landscape and people won’t even bother vandalizing them. Another thing is that people who are most likely have to resort to crime are really appreciative of having the Lime Bikes. They are just so thankful. Someone came up to me and said, “Now I can get home!” He was just so happy to have these bikes. So why would a person in this situation want to vandalize them? He sees them as a resource. It’s like everyone in the city getting a free bike. Why would you want to vandalize that? People are proud of it. People are really excited.
TC: What impact do they have on the community?
LC: Our goals are Availability, Affordability, and Accessibility. I have a lot of people coming up and saying what a good idea, and that they’re really thankful. Ithaca has really welcomed them and we have one of the highest user rates of all the towns where Lime Bike has pedal bikes. We get hundreds of rides a day. I see people using them, happy to have them. I was at Stewart Park last Saturday night and there was a group of guys who all had Lime Bikes. They were having a little party in Stewart Park. That probably wouldn’t have been possible without these bikes. They wouldn’t have been able to get out and enjoy the park. I see people on romantic excursions on the waterfront trail. This morning I had a long conversation with the city engineer. He said the city is really happy with them. Everyone seems to be really excited. Bikes are so inexpensive compared to cars and take up such little space.
Ironically, the main negative comments we’ve had have been from other cyclists. I think part of that is that cyclists in general are cranky people, because they are a disenfranchised group of people. Cyclists are used to being pushed around by other transportation systems, so they’re very wary of them. A lot of cyclists have come up to me and complained that the Lime Bikes take up space on the bike racks. We encourage people not to park them in racks, because they are free-standing. They don’t need to be locked to anything. People who put them on bike racks mean well. They probably think, “Here’s a bike, here’s a bike rack.” Then the cyclists don’t have room for their bikes which they want to lock to something.
TC: I think people would use electric bikes or scooters a lot because Ithaca is so hilly, and I know Lime Bike has those in other cities. Why didn’t Ithaca get electric bikes or scooters?
LC: Lime Bike has already deployed electric bikes and scooters in many cities that are hilly, including Seattle and San Francisco. They are evaluating if it works there. Right now the state government does not have a legal definition of electric bikes, so it’s unclear where you can use them. They are legally ambiguous. The state itself is really the reason Ithaca doesn’t have electric bikes, so I would encourage people to call their NYS representatives.
TC: People may be worried that they will bike somewhere and someone will use their bike and they will be unable to get back. What advice would you give?
LC: Ultimately, it is a “bike share” system. The whole idea is that we’ll put out as many bikes as people need, and usually you only have to walk a block or two to find another bike. We’ll see if people keep taking bikes somewhere, and we’ll start putting bikes there. You can call the company and tell us if you want bikes somewhere, and you can also call the company if you don’t want bikes in front of your property.
TC: What are some uses for these bikes? What are some scenarios?
LC: They work best for flat areas, up to 2-3 miles. A popular use is taking the bus into town and then using the bikes to go the last mile or so to where they work. People take them to the bus stop. We stock a lot of bikes on Green Street and Seneca Street where the bus stops are. There is a lot of usage along Route 13, going to Tops, Wegmans and the hardware stores. People from the neighborhoods around those areas use them. Many high schoolers are starting to use them. LACS has a very strong usage pattern. We put them at the bottom of the hill, and you can get on the waterfront trail from them. A big part of my job is putting bikes in front of businesses, or apartment buildings, or auto repair stores. People drop off their car to get repaired, and they need some way to get back to work.