Ford GoBike, LimeBike to add electric bicycles to their fleets
Bay Area bike-sharing is going electric. And soon.
Both LimeBike and Ford GoBike, which offer shortterm bicycle rentals for quick trips, are rolling out pedal-assisted electric bikes in the next few weeks and months. The first to arrive will be LimeBike’s, which are expected to hit the streets by the end of January or early February, company representatives said.
LimeBike has roughly 700 pedal-powered bicycles scattered throughout Alameda and South San Francisco, and they plan to add between 200 to 500 more electric bikes between the two cities. Unlike the baby blue Ford GoBikes, which are locked at docking stations throughout San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville, the bright green LimeBikes can be left at any bicycle rack, or even on the sidewalk.
Users unlock the bikes with an app, ride them to their destination, and leave them there for someone else to pick up.
Ford GoBike members will have to wait a little longer, though. Their sleek, black electric bikes won’t get dropped off until sometime in April, company representatives said, and they will only be deployed in San Francisco for a one-year pilot program. Riders will be able to locate the electric bikes with the Ford GoBike app and use them at any station in the city.
There is an extra fee for the electric-assisted bikes. LimeBike charges $1 to unlock the electric bicycles and $1 extra for every 10 minutes of riding. The electric Ford GoBikes will be free to members for a limited time. After that, members and day-use riders will likely be asked to pay more, but company representatives said that, because it’s a pilot program, they haven’t worked out those details and expect to have that information available closer to the April roll-out.