500 Lime Electric Scooters Land on Fort Lauderdale Streets with Free Election Day Rides

There’s a new way to cruise around the “Venice of America”.

California-based company Lime - self-billed as a “shared smart mobility solution provider offering a multi-modal fleet” – just dropped 500 vibrantly-colored electric scooters throughout Fort Lauderdale.

The local deployment marks Lime’s entrance into Broward County after signing a one-year agreement with the City of Fort Lauderdale. In July, the City passed an ordinance approving a dockless mobility program for the area.

“We worked with the city right up until the vote... and we’re happy to be the first scooter provider in Fort Lauderdale,” said Todd O’Boyle, director of strategic development for Lime. “We think this can be a great way to help with some of the traffic congestion and also help with environmental protection.”

To get rolling on a scooter, you open the Lime app and “unlock” it by either scanning a QR code on the vehicle or manually inputting it. The cost is one dollar to unlock the scooter and 15 cents per minute while riding it. When you’re finished, you’re encouraged to park the scooter anywhere it’s generally safe to park a bike (e.g. not blocking sidewalks or in front of store entrances). When the scooters are out of juice, Lime "juicers" pick them up, take them home, recharge them and place them back out on the streets.

Lime made headlines earlier this year after dispatching a small fleet in Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood and then received cease and desist orders from city attorneys, saying they had violated Florida laws. In mid-October, the Miami City Commission changed course and voted to allow scooters for a one-year test period.

“We value our partnership with cities above all,” said O’Boyle. “In Miami, we’ve worked together for a while to create a healthy framework for scooters. We anticipate getting the necessary permits and we’ll let everyone know as soon as it’s publicly available. We’re excited to get back to Miami.”

Back in Fort Lauderdale, Lime is helping folks get to the polls on Tuesday. The company has partnered with organizations Vote.org and I Am a Voter to share election-related information. Lime is also offering two free scooter rides to and from polling places on Election Day with the code "LIME2VOTE."

“We’re in the business of meeting transportation challenges and daily transportation needs,” said O’Boyle. “We know that getting to polls is not always easy and, at a minimum, we want people to be able to access the polls.”

In addition to Ft. Lauderdale, Lime is also currently operating in South Miami, Miami Springs, Miami Lakes, Miami Shores, North Bay Village, North Miami, Key Biscayne and local universities including Barry University, Johnson & Wales and St. Thomas University. The scooters can also be found in more than 120 markets worldwide including Dallas, San Diego, Paris and Berlin.