While California State University, Monterey Bay’s (CSUMB) campus has undergone several changes over the summer, students were quick to notice the disappearance of Lime scooters that once scattered every sidewalk and bike rack.
One year after their introduction to CSUMB and the city of Marina, Lime has put their partnership on hiatus. With Lime, students were able to ride scooters across campus and into the city using an app that cost $1 to unlock and charged 15 cents per minute of usage.
“Our mission is to provide communities with safe, sustainable, convenient transportation options and we are constantly looking to improve the way riders move throughout their cities,” a Lime spokesperson explained in an email. “We are thankful for CSUMB and Marina’s forward thinking about micro-mobility and we remain hopeful about partnering on solutions tailor-made for the community in the future.”
Despite conflicting opinions, Lime was a popular method of entertainment and transportation among students needing to travel to different parts of campus in a short amount of time.
“The lack of lime scooters really affects the whole community,” Roxana Lopez said. “As a Residential Advisor (RA), I cannot imagine how my residents are gonna struggle now without an easy way to get to class, considering how spread out the campus is.” Lime scooters provided Lopez with a way to travel quickly across campus when she received urgent calls as a RA on duty.
“I cannot imagine how my residents are gonna struggle now without an easy way to get to class”
Roxana Lopez, Residential Advisor
“To make their business work, they needed a regional solution, meaning other cities in the area needed to have contracts with them as well and some of the local cities have yet to do that,” Senior Campus Planner Matthew McCluney explained. “Lime could come back, but for Lime to come back, one of the cities would have to want to make an agreement with them.”
While the future for Lime scooters on campus is uncertain, students are encouraged to take advantage of other methods of transportation available on campus such as Zipcar, rideshares, bike rentals and the free transit system.
“Part of our Master Plan strategy is to increase these alternative transportation modes, bringing as many alternatives and sustainable transportation modes to campus as we can,” McCluney said.