Village officials plan to develop a licensing agreement with LimeBike to keep the innovative bike sharing vendor on the Key, and as they do so, they encourage residents to be responsible, respectful users of the program.
The Village Council agreed August 29 to make its relationship LimeBike, which started a pilot program on the Key this summer, more permanent.
Council member Katie Petros, who spearheaded the program, said LimeBike reps have always listened to community needs, concerns, ideas, etc., and hired a local staff that does a great job picking up and repositioning bikes after they’re used. LimeBike is a dockless system, so users leave the bikes anywhere when they’re done, though LimeBike recommends locations on its app.
“I personally have felt good about the company. I think they’ve been very responsive,” she said.
Other Council members agreed, but said there are issues they’ll need to keep an eye on.
While they agreed LimeBike’s ground team works hard to reposition bikes, they urged residents to leave the bikes in the recommended locations, lest they start to clutter local swales and sidewalks. The company is also working with the Key Biscayne Police on preventing vandalism.
Police Chief Charles Press said he thinks a lot of LimeBike’s built-in safeguards work well, and he applauded the company for wanting to partner with local police.
“It’s a great program – they have a great tracking system, and they want to work with us – but there are aesthetic issues,” Press said. “Other than aesthetically and improving where to place the bikes, people in Key Biscayne embrace it – from the elderly to kids.”
Speaking of kids, Press did raise one more issue: everyone should wear a helmet while biking, and for those age 16 and under, it’s illegal not to. “It’s not to be a pain in the neck, it’s to protect them,” the chief said.
Petros said she wants to see more community education on all of those issues, and any new ones that come up. “It’s a work in progress,” she said.
But, in the long run, she thinks it can have a big impact on easing traffic and parking congestion on the Key, and residents who spoke at the August 29 meeting agreed.
Dennis Eastling, pastor at the Key Biscayne Community Church, said he and his coworkers have been using LimeBikes rather than cars when they go out for lunch. “It’s actually been faster, because we don’t have to look for parking spots,” he said.
Eastling said he’d like to put in special spots in the church parking lot just for LimeBikes to encourage parishioners to use the service. “The program is great for our community, great for the environment, and helps to solve a very chaotic traffic and parking issue,” he said.
Ran Gimeno, whose company Polga Medical Group partnered with LimeBike on a free ride code, agreed. He said everything new comes with a learning curve – when golf carts first made their way to the Key, they weren’t immediately embraced, but now they’re part of life – but he’s confident LimeBike is here to stay.
“I think it will be part of natural living for us going forward,” Gimeno said. “It’s something that represents and reflects the community. It makes sense for tourists, for locals, for students – as a Key Rat, I would have loved to have something like that back in the day.”
Laudy Ibarra and Yvette Fernandez, who helped spearhead the program, agreed it’s great for the environment, residents, visitors, etc., and urged islanders to embrace innovation.
Yuki Lin, who launched the local initiative for LimeBike, said residents can be proud that Key Biscayne is the company’s first municipal market.
Lin said Key Biscayne is a model community for LimeBike, with a committed local staff, a government that embraces innovation, active and tech-savvy residents, etc. “Key Biscayne has always been a ripe community for a bike share program,” he said.
Lin said it’s gratifying to see LimeBike being so well accepted, and he looks forward to the company’s future on the Key. He also revealed he’ll be moving on to help launch LimeBike programs elsewhere, and introduced his replacement, who has local ties: Harvey Younes, brother of Key Biscayne Deputy Chief of Police Jason Younes.
He said Younes will do a great job continuing and building on LimeBike’s program on the Key. “I very much look forward to Key Biscayne accepting LimeBike as a permanent program in the very near future,” Lin said.
