Make room for more mopeds in the Big Apple.
Another company plans to drop hundreds of the mini-motorcycles across New York City starting Friday in a bid to compete with Revel, the controversial company that lost three moped riders to fatal crashes last summer.
Lime, best known for its e-scooters, will launch its electric moped-share on Friday with 100 vehicles spread out across Queens, Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, the company said.
“E-mopeds can serve a vital role in expanding access to affordable, safe, and carbon-free public transportation to more New Yorkers,” Lime CEO Wayne Ting said in a statement.
A rep for Lime said the fleet will expand to 500 vehicles “in a matter of weeks,” and could grow even more over the summer. The company hopes to eventually expand its service area into the Bronx and deep into all the outer boroughs.
Lime will launch its electric moped-share riding program on May 1, 2021. LimeFor now, Lime’s footprint will more or less match that of Revel’s almost three-year-old moped sharing program, which greatly expanded in geographic reach during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wayne Ting is the CEO of Lime. LimeThe dramatic pace of Revel’s 2020 expansion correlated with an increase in safety concerns, culminating with three fatal crashes in the span of 10 days in late July and early August.
Three riders died in accidents involving Revel scooters last summer. Christopher SadowskiRevel shut down for a month after the crashes, then returned in late August with beefed-up safety protocols. Customers must now pass a safety test and snap a photo of themselves wearing a helmet before riding.
Beginning with 100 mopeds, Lime plans to expand to 500 vehicles “in a matter of weeks.” LimeLime’s moped users will also have to take “helmet selfies,” a spokesman said. All riders must be 21 or older. The mopeds zip at up to 28 miles per hour.






