The day has finally arrived. We can now ride Lime e-scooters in Canada. This will be the company’s first scooter-share pilot program in the Great White North. The micro convoy of e-scooters will be released in the city of Waterloo Ontario.
The University of Waterloo assisted the dockless e-bike and e-scooter sharing startup in the launch. Lime is the first e-scooter startup to release their product on Canadian soil.
Andrew Savage, Lime’s vice president of strategic development said in a statement, “Over the past several months, we have spent time in Waterloo to understand how our Lime-S e-scooters can help this progressive city reach its smart transportation goals.”
He further added, “We are committed to meeting the unique needs of cities across Canada and are excited to continue expanding our global footprint.”
Lime hasn’t revealed which other Canadian cities will be getting the scooters. No one knows how the public will react to Lime’s inception in Waterloo.
According to major Canadian news outlets Mail and The Globe, transportation policymakers from Toronto have reservations inviting e-scooter startups to their city. This comes as no surprise due to Lime’s very public legal battle with the city of San Francisco.
The Californian city banned use of e-scooters on pavements. Policymakers feared it would be too dangerous for passing-by pedestrians. Toronto being the most populous city in Canada, is a goldmine for e-scooter startups Spin, Bird and Lime.
This isn’t Lime’s first time unleashing their products across unchartered waters. Previously it released its e-scooters in European terrain, namely Zurich Switzerland and Frankfurt Germany in 2017.
In June of this year, the startup unveiled its e-scooters in Paris as well. If the launch in Canada goes successful, it will become the 8th country. Overall, the San Mateo-based company is operating in more than 100 locations currently.
Lime has had its fair share of problems too. In September two Lime users died on the road while riding their scooters.
Despite such massive controversies, Lime hit 11.5 million rides after just 14 months of it coming into existence. The company has raised $467 million in venture capital funding. It is now valued at more than $1 billion.
E-scooters have rapidly and steadily growing in popularity, as more and more people are becoming health conscious as well as environment conscious.
Now it remains to be seen how practical will Lime scooters be in the cold climate of Canada. In the sunny state of California, Lime rides can be quite liberating. The sun is shining in your face, the wind is blowing through your hair. It’s all peaceful and serene.
But in Canada, it’s a whole different story. Temperatures can drop to -30 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, Toronto and Waterloo don’t get as cold but still, it can be quite an extreme. So naturally people prefer riding the bus, calling a cab or taking their cars to work.
So let’s just wait and see how this all works out. We are all counting on Lime.
Fazeel Ashraf
Jazib Zaman
