Lime, City of Charleston, and MUSC Health Rebrand Bikeshare Program as Charleston Spokes by Lime

Press Release

Lime on Saturday joined the City of Charleston and the Medical University of South Carolina’s health system (MUSC Health) to celebrate a successful first year of Charleston’s shared e-bike program and rebrand the program as Charleston Spokes by Lime. Lime, Mayor John Tecklenburg, MUSC Health, and Council Member Michael Seekings hosted a group ride to celebrate a successful first year for the program and National Bike Day and a press conference after the ride at Washington Square Park. 

All attendees celebrated the program’s high ridership, continued improvement around parking, and a foundational focus on safety. The rebrand of the program as Charleston Spokes by Lime solidifies Lime as a long term partner for the City of Charleston with the support of MUSC Health and demonstrates the collaboration between all involved. The new name harkens back to the city’s previous bikeshare program Holy Spokes and combines Lime’s iconic green and white color scheme with the legacy colors of Charleston and South Carolina. Lime and the City of Charleston look forward to riders enjoying the new look e-bikes that fuse Lime’s brand and the history and colors of both South Carolina as a state and Charleston as a city.

In Lime’s first year of serving Charleston nearly 35,000 unique riders have taken over 90,000 trips on a shared Lime e-bike. Lime riders have traveled over 160,000 miles, keeping an estimated 21,000 car trips off the road and saving 1,500 gallons of gas as well as over 13 metric tons of carbon emissions. Lime is poised for an even better year two, with ridership so far in March and April of 2023 showing significant increases from last year’s first months of May, June, and July of 2022.

“Partnering with Lime and MUSC over the past year to revive the City of Charleston’s bike share program has been a key element in helping the City to achieve its goals established by our Climate Action Plan to reduce carbon emission to net zero by 2050.  The program also provides immediate relief to traffic and parking congestion downtown, as well as offers alternative transportation options to visitors and residents.  In marking the first anniversary of our partnership with Lime, we celebrate by unveiling the rebranding of the bike share program to ‘Charleston Spokes’ that seamlessly incorporates the history and aesthetics of Charleston into the innovative design.  The City looks forward to working with MUSC and Lime to help spread the word on the benefits of the bike share program and increase ridership for the years to come,” said Mayor John Tecklenburg.

“At MUSC Health, we believe that a huge part of helping to build healthier communities is working with public and private partners to support individual and community wellbeing. We’re proud to work with Lime and the City of Charleston to promote this healthy, fun, and environmentally conscious way to move around our great City,” said Patrick J. Cawley, MD, MUSC Health CEO and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs, University.

“Lime is proud that our e-bikes have become part of Charleston’s sustainable transportation system in our first year here and we can’t wait to see what the future holds as we become Charleston Spokes by Lime. We look forward to continuing to Lime e-bike riders helping the city ease traffic and congestion downtown and reduce its carbon footprint for years to come,” said Adriana Lopez Hernandez, Operations Manager, Lime.

Safety and Parking

Lime combines its global micromobility expertise with its unparalleled local focus to design electric vehicle sharing programs tailored to the needs of the cities it serves. For Charleston, Lime designed its bikeshare system to be as safe and orderly as possible, with a parking strategy built to minimize disruption and fit contextually with the city’s streetscape. Lime has continued to iterate on its parking strategy throughout the first year of operations, working with local partners to ensure that its e-bikes connect people to existing mass transportation options and fit seamlessly into the city’s historic, unique, and celebrated aesthetic. Riders are asked to end their rides within a designated parking corral or, when on the Peninsula, at a designated parking station. Lime also uses incentives and strict enforcement of rules to ensure that its e-bikes are used in accordance with the city’s laws and parked in orderly fashion.

Lime Access

Providing affordable and equitable service to all is a key part of Lime’s mission. In Charleson its Lime Access program provides 70% discounts to eligible riders, which includes anyone who receives federal, state, or city subsidies, Pell Grant recipients, Charleston Housing Authority residents, Healthy Connections recipients, and CARTA reduced fare recipients.

Hardware

Special features of the Gen4 e-bike include:

• Increased motor power to help riders easily climb hills;

• A phone holder, allowing riders to easily navigate and follow directions without having to stop and look at their phones;

• A new handlebar display mirroring the one on Lime’s scooters for a standardized display across vehicle types;

• An automatic two-speed transmission that eliminates the prior generation’s gears for easier acceleration and smoother ride;

• A modular design, extending the usable life to five years.

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