Move over e-bikes and e-scooters, there’s something new in Portland’s bike lanes. Last week Lime added a new type of shared electric vehicle to their local offerings with the launch of 250 LimeGliders. These new mobility devices are billed as “the next generation of seated e-scooter” by Lime and the local media, but upon closer inspection they aren’t scooters. And they definitely aren’t bikes.
The Glider does have a big, cushy seat, which makes its riding position similar to a bike. But it doesn’t have pedals, so it’s not a bike. And its 20-inch wheels are twice the size of Lime’s e-scooter wheels and are the same size as their e-bikes. Lime had deployed a limited number of seated e-scooters since 2019, but these new vehicles are much different.
Here’s what Lime said about them in a press release:
“The Glider is designed as an inclusive and accessible option for all riders, as well as those looking to replace car trips with a more comfortable, two-wheeled option combining seated comfort with the effortlessness of a scooter. The innovative design includes foot rests instead of pedals, allowing riders to simply get on and go. The larger padded seat is unique in Lime’s fleet and is positioned closer to the ground to provide a lower center of gravity for riders.
Lime repositioned the battery and updated wheels on the new vehicles to achieve a lower center of gravity, improving stability and maneuverability, especially for smaller-statured riders. This is particularly useful when riders move the vehicle off the curb to start a ride or when walking them onto the curb to a parking spot when ending a ride. These features cater to feedback from groups traditionally underrepresented in Lime’s active riders, including women and older riders.”
The Gliders utilize a hub motor and have a top speed of about 15 mph.
Lime already holds a permit with Portland Bureau of Transportation for e-scooters and they’ve worked closely with PBOT on the Glider rollout. The currently have about 2,000 e-scooters on the streets, compared to just 250 LimeGliders. PBOT endorsed these new vehicles as a way to make the system even more accessible to a wider variety of users.
Lime has operated in Portland since 2018 when the launched their dockless LimeBikes. In 2024, Lime was one of two companies (along with Biketown operator Lyft) authorized to take part in Portland’s micromobility program.
I’ll hop on one of these soon. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from someone who’s ridden one. How did it work for you?
Thanks for reading.
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It is a motor scooter.
As is my Honda Metropolitan.
It should be licensed and insured
Oh cool, they reinvented the moped, but worse.
Not a “mo-ped” [motorized – pedal cycle]: no pedals, so really seated scooter… All the speed and none of the old noise and less pollution.
BUT for existing e-scooter riders it should have safer traffic safety outcomes overtime (more stable, larger wheels, package basket, bigger brakes, ASSUMING if top speeds are kept manageable (15 mph) within the “50cc” threshold.)
A noped.
these gliders look like mopeds and other motorcycles, but they are not gasoline powered and they have a 15mph speed limit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2LlYtuwYrQ
This dude hits at least 22mph on a downhill
indeed he does! https://youtu.be/P2LlYtuwYrQ?t=230
They are all over Seattle, where I have tried one. I wasn’t the biggest fan, but I do see the appeal. I’ve got a lot of thoughts, so, big comment incoming.
The biggest benefit of these is that they are more stable. It’s kind of shocking to me that anyone would want to ride an electric scooter given how terrible the pavement is on many of our streets. Feels like asking for a broken wrist. For that reason, I always prefer the stability of a bike. I guess the ‘gliders’ have a wheel in both worlds being basically an e-scooters with bigger wheels. They’re also more practical with the basket on the front. Always good to be able to take your backpack off your back or grab a bag of groceries.
My main gripe with these, as well as scooters and Biketown bikes, is that they are dockless. I understand that’s part of the appeal, but there’s just so many problems. People truly do park them in the absolute worst places on a regular basis. I guess you could go around reporting all the improperly parked bikes and scooters but that is a futile effort because more will spring up in their place within a day. I also don’t think that relying on me to tattle on my neighbors is a good way to do rule enforcement.
Of course there’s the pricing, too. If I remember correctly, the ‘gliders’ in Seattle cost more than the bikes & scooters – which are already very expensive! I would like to see the city do something to provide more affordable shared bikes (perhaps regular bikes as an option like Citibike has?) and make pricing more predictable. The by-time instead of by-distance can make a 2-mile trip vary wildly in price. 35 cents a minute is crazy. I also think it incentivizes risky behavior like running stoplights. Most of the time, it’s cheaper for a friend and I to take an uber than for us to use biketown.
I get that poor people get special discounts and free biketown, but while I don’t qualify for food stamps I’m not exactly made of money. It’s just not reasonable to use it but once a month when I end up in a spot where the buses aren’t running late enough.
I do like the idea of ‘shared micro-mobility’ I guess, but I don’t think the current regime is really doing much to make it a convenient option for, really, anyone. Low-income folks get free rides but the bikes/scooters aren’t consistently available, and the math doesn’t work out for middle-income people to use them. The incentive structure isn’t really there for shared bikes & scooters to replace car trips.
You think 35c per minute is crazy? How does 50c per minute sound? (which is what these cost)
That’s how much people are willing to pay not to ride TriMet (because I don’t believe for a second that these are displacing driving in most cases… except, perhaps an Uber on the margin).
50 cents a minute!!!
I think it’s overly cynical to say that people are paying that to avoid riding TriMet, Mostly I suspect people are using it to fill in gaps in transit service. Maybe we’re saying the same thing in a different tone here though.
“Most of the time, it’s cheaper for a friend and I to take an uber than for us to use biketown.”
Don’t worry the clowns on our City Council are striving to make our ride share (Uber/Lyft) the most expensive in the country and even potentially cause the demise of ride share here. Death by a thousand cuts in current day Portland as the doom loop is being turbocharged by the Peacocks.
“Portland’s leading institutions, including the Blazers, Timbers, and the Oregon Symphony and Ballet,” oppose the measure.”
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/07/uber-lyft-portland-proposal-change-ride-share-hailing-services/
It’s an e-bike with the vestigial parts removed, like toes on a whale.
Throw them in the Willamette
Please don’t be a polluter, it’s not cool.
More equipment owned by irresponsible corporations to be left in all kinds of inappropriate locations – blocking sidewalks, driveways, dumped in the Willamette, and so on.
When will the “City That Works” actually put reqquire these corporations to take a modicum of responsibility for their equipment and where it is literally “dumped” daily by users?
When you vote in Councilors who aren’t corporate stooges?
So it’s an electric motorcycle (or an electric scooter kinda like the 49cc motorcycles Honda had in the 60s and 70s?)
I saw one on Sunday on NW Thurman, parked almost in the travel lane.