Rental electric scooters are back on Mobile streets, the administration of Mayor Sandy Stimpson announced Friday.

The latest twist in the Port City’s flirtation with rental mobility options involves the return of Lime, the company that was the first in the market. Back in fall 2018, Lime – then known as LimeBike – brought a fleet of 500 rental bicycles to downtown streets and the University of South Alabama campus.

The bikes, which weren’t motorized, saw relatively little use and by spring 2019 Lime was transitioning into scooters. A six-month agreement between Lime and the city expired and the city approved a new relationship with Gotcha, which brought a fleet of electric scooters to downtown at the end of 2019. These proved more popular, and the sight of people zipping around the Dauphin Street entertainment district soon became commonplace.

Service continued under a different logo after Gotcha was taken over by Bolt Mobility early in 2021. But Bolt pulled out of the Mobile market in August 2022 as the company experienced financial difficulties.

At that point, the legacy of micro-mobility in Mobile was mixed. Stimpson said “we have seen there is definitely an interest in these kinds of mobility services among Mobilians and visitors to our city,” and that the city was interested in fining a new provider. However, there had also been a few headaches, from use by underage riders to collisions with pedestrians to the tendency of users to leave the scooters randomly blocking sidewalks.

The Mobile city Council voted in late May to approve an exclusive franchise agreement with Neutron Holdings, doing business as Lime. The deal provides an exclusive three-year window for Lime “to operate a shared micromobility device system on City highways, streets and bikeways.” Lime will pay the city $5,000 per year and 15 cents per trip.

According to the city, Lime will deploy up to 300 of electric scooters, “providing residents and visitors with a safe, affordable, and sustainable way to get around.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Lime to bring high-quality e-scooters back to the City of Mobile,” said Stimpson, quoted in a city news release. “Mobilians and visitors to our city have already shown that there is a demand for safe, affordable and convenient transportation, particularly in the heart of our downtown entertainment district. We’ve worked hard to create a partnership that will benefit the City of Mobile, our citizens, visitors and Lime. We look forward to working with their team to make sure these e-scooters can benefit our citizens, businesses and stakeholders for years to come.”

“Today’s launch is the culmination of months of work between us and the City of Mobile, Mayor Stimpson, and the City Council, all done to ensure a successful e-scooter sharing program right from the start,” Robert Gardner, Lime’s director of government relations, said in the release. “Lime is thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to provide folks with a safe and fun way to get around that is easily affordable and good for the environment. We have more experience than anyone when it comes to shared electric vehicles, and we know this program’s success will be based on a foundation of safety, so we will work nonstop to educate our riders on how to ride safely and park properly. We look forward to working with our local partners to ensure our e-scooters help Mobile continue to grow as a dynamic, safe, and business-friendly city.”

Lime says that in 2022 it became the first “micromobility” company to post a full profitable year.

Lime launched scooter and bike rentals in Birmingham late in 2022. The company does not list any other Alabama cities as markets that it serves, but its presence in the South includes operations in Atlanta and Nashville. The company says it operates bikes and scooters in “more than 200 cities in nearly 30 countries on five continents.”

As with other similar services, users download a smartphone app, which allows users to locate, unlock and pay for time on scooters. On Friday, the app showed scooters ready for use in downtown Mobile, with fees of $1 per ride plus 40 cents per minute.

For more information on Lime and its vehicles, visit www.li.me.