Despite the safety concerns Lime scooters present, many University of Minnesota students find them to be convenient modes of transportation. 

The University signed a contract with Lime in 2022 in hopes of making transportation easier and reducing fossil fuel emissions from other modes of transport. The contract is renewed annually. 

John Mark Lucas, the transportation programs manager for the University’s Parking and Transportation Services (PTS), said the main goal of the partnership was to provide students with another transportation option for short-distance trips. 

Another reason was to reduce the University’s traffic, Lucas said. 

Callie Burch, a second-year student at the University, said she often uses Lime scooters to get to class. 

“I am kind of bad with time management, so using the scooters allows me to get up later and not worry about having less time to prepare for class,” Burch said. 

Claudia Staut, a third-year student, said she also uses Lime scooters for time management reasons. When she is late for something, Staut said she uses Lime to get her to where she needs to go. 

“I like the convenience and how you can use it once, leave it and not have to worry about it ever again,” Staut said. “It is also fairly inexpensive.” 

Despite their convenience, Burch said she has fallen off Lime scooters multiple times. 

“Sometimes they go really fast, and I feel like you never know if you are going to get one that is janky or needs updates,” Burch said. “I was on one with a wheel that started moving funny, and I flopped forward.” 

Another time, Burch said she was swerving to try to avoid somebody on the sidewalk but drove into the grass and fell.

Burch said she does not like to ride Lime scooters on the street since the street near her apartment has a lot of fast-moving cars, which stresses her out. 

Staut also said she ran into a moving car while on a Lime scooter. 

“I was in the bike lane, and the car was turning right,” Staut said. “I didn’t notice it was turning so suddenly, and it didn’t see me, so I ran into the side of it and fell off of the scooter.” 

Staut left the incident with a scraped ankle and a couple of scrapes and bruises, but she said she is thankful she was not more injured. 

Staut said one of the more dangerous areas to ride on a Lime scooter is around Athletes Village, where there are many pedestrians and cars.

“The road conditions are also not great over there,” Staut said. “I saw someone flip over their scooter from a pothole.” 

Lucas said PTS works with the city to provide as safe an infrastructure as possible. This includes general bike lanes and separated bike lanes, which the University will be introducing to provide more separation between bikes and scooters as well as bikes and vehicles. 

On weekends, Staut said she sees a lot of students riding Lime scooters under the influence.

“I will be out and I will just see some people that are just a little too rowdy being a little unsafe with the scooters,” Staut said. “You can tell they are definitely not sober.” 

Of injured scooter riders, 29% reported consuming alcohol in the 12 hours before riding, according to a 2018 study by Austin Public Health in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Lucas said the scooters shut down at midnight every day. They open again at 4 a.m.

One of the main safety concerns brought to PTS is conflict with pedestrians, Lucas said.

“We have implemented slow zones where we have a lot of pedestrian interactions, and we are continuing to add them,” Lucas said. “There are also no ride zones where you cannot ride at all.” 

Lucas added Lime has a rider education program on its app, which gives riders a quiz. If riders choose to take it, and they pass the quiz, they are offered 50% off on their next ride.

Lucas said PTS is working to make the Lime scooter system more equitable. This year, PTS is working with Lime and International Student and Scholar Services to make sure anyone who has financially subsidized financial aid qualifies for their Lime Access program, which provides discounted rides. 

With this program, users will receive 100 rides at 75% off, according to the University statement. 

“We are working towards making sure that accessibility and equity are something that will be more balanced,” Lucas said. “We want everyone to have a transportation option regardless of what their financial capability is.”