Dedicated to Empowering and Informing the Burlingame Community

Biking Around B’game

I finally saw the first LimeBike in use by someone other than a neighborhood kid goofing around on it with his buddies–not that there is anything wrong with that either, but it wasn't really the intent of the program.  Apparently B'game kids often do not have bikes, but they do have phones and apps to get a LimeBike.  The City announced the program a couple week ago

The City of Burlingame is excited to introduce a six month bike sharing pilot in Burlingame. The bike sharing program will be operated by LimeBike, a company headquartered in San Mateo with bike sharing programs nationwide.

The LimeBikes will be available around town. Rides will cost $1 every 30 minutes. To ride, riders need to download the app onto their smartphone, scan the bike number, strap on a helmet, ride, enjoy and park smart.

The secret code "City of Trees" will get you five free rides in the app.  Oddly enough, the rent-a-bikes in San Mateo are blue and have set places to be parked using a stanchion.  The City email about our program seems to predict concern about the Limebikes being parked willy-nilly on sidewalks and such.  I'll be interested to see what kind of demand there is here since the one I see on 25th Ave. in San Mateo seldom moves.  Here's one outside the B'way post office.

Lime Bikes2

March 18th addition:  Lori's post this morning reminded me of how many people are complaining about the "LitterBikes" all over the place.  Then I was in downtown San Mateo and saw a LitterBike on the corner….of San Mateo.  That is interesting because San Mateo uses the Blue bikes that have fixed stations to return to.  I have to wonder how San Mateans feel about our limey showing up on their streets?  Here is is

Limebike in San Mateo

Posted in , ,

40 responses to “Biking Around B’game”

  1. resident

    Can you just leave the bike anywhere? Can you leave it in Millbrae (at BART?) Can you leave it on El Camino at a bus stop?

  2. HMB

    Hate the way these bikes clutter the sidewalk in SSF. It’s a hazard when you are shopping on Grand Avenue because people dump the bikes willy-nilly because there are no places to park a bike. Merchants on the Ave are going to hate finding these bikes all over the sidewalks. How can this company be allowed to dump all these bikes without providing infrastructure for parking?

  3. Bruce Dickinson

    The problem with these bike sharing programs is that people aren’t carrying around helmets with them all the time. Bruce Dickinson notices these bicycles on the Bayfront but do those visitors (staying in the hotels) likely to use the bikes carry helmets along with them on their trip to the Bay Area?
    May be a classic case of a solution in search of a problem! Wouldn’t be the first time coming from city government!

  4. HMB

    Unless you care about brain injury, the “threat” of CA law for not wearing a bike helmet is not going to convince you to wear one. If an individual under the age of 18 is found to be riding his or her bicycle without any such helmet, then a law enforcement professional may potentially issue a fine to the rider. For first time offenders, no fine shall be issued, however after an individual’s first warning, fines may be assessed at no more than $25.00 per occurrence.

  5. resident

    With auto burglaries at night skyrocketing all over the Bay Area and Burlingame in particular, I want Darwin’s Law to take precedence over helmet enforcement and CRACK DOWN on car thefts. This does seem too hard to figure out. Why isn’t the council talking about car break-ins???????????????

  6. Beatrice Buffet

    Major liability issue. These things are taking parking spaces, blocking sidewalks, and we are pushing them on the public too hard. Traffic has increased with cars…not decreased.
    And….they look like shit

  7. BMW

    When we hit them with our Ferraris it would be nice if they were wearing a styrofoam hat for their safety. It would make us feel better about it.
    If we’re genuinely concerned about safety, helmets would be the 3rd or 4th thing down the list. First would be where are the safe bike routes these people should be riding this side of 101. Next would be why are people allowed to drive 25+ mph on our narrow Burlingame sts like in the Easton.

  8. hollyroller

    I agree.
    It would be very reasonable to install Personal Injury Attorneys contact info.
    Helmets need to be attached to the bikes too.
    As long as the Helmets are CA DOT Certified.
    Horrible, Ridiculous, and Stupid.
    But that is who we are.
    This decision is what we voted for.

  9. HMB

    By law, only kids need to wear bike helmets. But anyone with a brain should be wearing one.

  10. Joe

    I can’t wait to see the first cyclist on the new Carolan bike lanes. Haven’t seen one yet. Guess I will have to do it myself on my much cuter-than-lime bike.

  11. Joe

    I cannot take credit for this little nickname, but one Voice reader I’ve spoken to refers to the LimeBikes as “LitterBikes”. They are landing in odd places and seem to sit there for quite some time.

  12. Jennifer

    This is a John Horgan GEM, beautifully written.
    SJ Merc. Feb. 2, 2018
    “They are the new homeless. Parked LimeBikes have become a rather sad sight in some Peninsula communities these days and nights.
    Left by their riders who are finished using them, the spiffy, new rental bicycles can sit for days on end out there in the open, rain or shine, if no one else wants to ride them; they appear to be unwanted and uncared-for.
    The innovative LimeBike premise is based on “dockless” bike-sharing. In other words, you can rent a bike ($1 for 30 minutes, 50 cents for students) and leave it locked outside your chosen destination.
    In theory, another renter (maybe the same person) is expected show up at some point, unlock it and utilize those wheels to get somewhere else. It’s all accomplished via a mobile smartphone app. Very tidy.
    But some bikes become what amounts to temporary, unloved quasi-orphans out there in the winter elements. One block from our abode, a lonely, solitary LimeBike sat pathetically for five days and nights without being moved. Finally, just after noon Sunday, someone picked up the forlorn item and rented it or removed it for other opportunities.
    LimeBike, barely a year-old, is operating in South San Francisco and Burlingame, among other Peninsula towns. Headquarters are located in San Mateo. We wish the LimeBike creators/investors well.”
    Thanks John….

  13. Laura

    I have to say that I am getting very tried of moving the darn things off the sidewalks and pathways throughout the City. I’ve pulled them out of bushes in Washington Park and one was even in the gender neutral bathroom at Washington Park the other morning. There isn’t a day that goes by, that I do not move one from being parked completely across a sidewalk. I would think that this would be a problem for seniors and handicap residents and I hope the City is fully indemnified.

  14. hillsider

    A slight improvement on Litterbike– Loobike.

  15. Handle Bard

    As a bikeaholic I am very concerned about these Limebikes. In a very short time we are seeing a lot of dangerous riding on the sidewalks and on the streets against the traffic flow and without helments. I have not seen one limey with a helmet yet. They also look a little uncomfortable since the seats are set too low for most riders.

  16. Peter Garrison

    You can adjust the seats- although with some seats, the seat post is hard to move… I rode one set too low and looked like a circus monkey on a tricycle.
    I live up in the hills and saw an electric LimeBike parked nearby. Only problem is that to bike down to the grocery store and back would cost about 6 dollars.

  17. Joe

    Pete, I did not realize there were electric limebikes. How do they keep the battery charged? What is the rate? Now they have me interested even though I have two bikes of my own in the garage!

  18. Peter Garrison

    Dollar to unlock and dollar per 30 (?) minutes. App shows charge on the bike’s battery and location; maintenance techs swap out the battery if it gets low.

  19. Peter Garrison

    Correction: 1$ to unlock, 10 cents a minute…

  20. Lorne

    With regard to safety (in particular, kids’ use without helmets, which I’m seeing a lot of), for what it’s worth here’s what appeared in the Dec. 4, 2017 staff report when the Limebike pilot program agreement was presented to Council:
    LimeBike will also partner with the City to enhance bicycle and helmet safety education in Burlingame. LimeBike has committed to the following:
    – LimeBike will offer an initial 100 free helmets to be distributed in Burlingame.
    – LimeBike will provide additional free helmets based on the program’s usage and success.
    – LimeBike will coordinate with Burlingame High School on providing bicycle safety information and training.
    – LimeBike will provide bicycle safety information to the City to distribute in various locations including at the Main Library and by police officers.

  21. Steve K

    This morning the Caltrain PA system at the station was announcing a major delay on the tracks. So I decided to try one of the Lime bikes for the first time. I’ve been meaning to give them a try and I had already signed up and had the app on my phone. So I opened the app, took a picture of the QR code on the bike and viola the lock on the bike unlocked the back wheel and it made a little tone indicating it was ready to use. With the app already set up it took about 15 seconds.
    I got on the bike took a few pedals and then adjusted the seat for my height. I’ve seen a bunch of people riding around in positions where the seat is set uncomfortably low (kind of like obama on a bike) so I got it set up correctly and decided to ride to the Milbrae station to catch BART up to the city, or even catch Caltrain if it was up and running again.
    Man, that was grueling. The Lime bikes are decent quality and solid but they are WAY harder to pedal. I don’t know if it the much heavier weight or a resistance in the hubs. Or maybe its the tires. It’s totally flat from the Burlingame station to Milbrae (Carolan and Rollins) and when I occasionally do it on my own bike, nothing super light, it takes about 15 minutes at an easy pace. It took me twice as long and I felt like I was climbing a hill the whole way going about the speed of a jogger. My legs got a pretty good workout from those 3 miles.
    When I’ve seen people riding the Lime bikes I’ve often noted how they seem to be riding in low gears pedaling at a pretty high rpm for the condition and now I know why. There’s a lot of built-in resistance on those bikes and you need the lower gearing.
    As noted above Lime has now also introduced a second version that is electric and now I know why. I would assume the electric bikes probably go a little faster for the same effort. I’d think you’d want a helmet (not that you shouldn’t wear a helmet on the slower ones too) but yes the electric ones are probably the way to go if you are going more than a mile. Although the electric ones do cost more and an uber might not be much more expensive.
    Anyway, it was fun. I’m not sure how Anot very good for a 3 mile ride.

  22. Steve K

    hey, this comments editor needs a way to correct typos and errors.
    I meant to say:
    Anyway, it was fun, but I don’t think I’ll do it for another 3 mile ride.

  23. BMW

    The bikes are clearly under-geared. Which may be an intentional safety feature. Definitely not as comfortable as your own bike. But the e-bike aspect is a game changer and will be interesting to see.
    Looking at that 12/4/17 staff report Lorne referred to, the Limebike agreement says as the first bullet:
    “Limebike will track and pick up any bicycles taken outside of Burlingame, parked improperly, or left unused for over 24 hours and return them to identified locations in Burlingame.”
    I don’t believe that last clause is being followed.

  24. Handle Bard

    It is not even close to be followed.

  25. Laura

    They collect them and then in mass, do a neighborhood dump and place two to three bikes on a busy corner in residential neighborhoods, Washington Park, the Train Station etc. Don’t mind the park and train station dumps as public property, but had a problem with the residential neighborhood dumps. At least that was happening in Victoria Park and the Lyon Hoag area. I complained and was told that they didn’t do dumps, but were at a loss to explain how nine bikes show up on each corner of my block after 7:30pm and before 5am. Since the complaint, the neighborhood dump has stopped as instead of bikes in mass, there are only the single bikes being driven by residents in the neighborhood. Not a fan of this program as they promote bike riding without a helmet. Since the City promotes and has approved this program, I surely hope that they are fully indemnified.

  26. Laura

    Was walking along the Bay and one of the lime bikes at Kincaids, had a lime bike helmet in the basket. That was the first helmet I had seen and was pleasantly surprised.

  27. Lorne

    FYI, here’s additional interesting perspective on the current dockless bike phenomenon:
    https://www.bikebiz.com/news/data-mining-is-why-billions-are-being-pumped-into-dockless-bikes

  28. Lori

    Has anyone in the Burlingame City Hall read any of the complaints about LimeBike? I think not. As a resident of Burlingame, I am so annoyed and disgusted with the LimeBike program, which was forced on us. Bikes are being dumped all over town, especially in front of private residences and sidewalks. Why is it that the residents have to call LimeBike to have them removed? We didn’t approve this. Anyone with complaints, please, please send an email to bikeshare@burlingame.org. Let your voices be heard and let send LimeBike packing.

  29. Joe

    Thank you, Lori. You are far from being alone in your sentiment. I have just updated the original post to include a photo of a LimeBike sitting on a very busy corner in downtown San Mateo. Anyone care to bet that SM feels as Lori does about random bikes sitting in the busy pedestrian right of way for days on end?

  30. Lori

    Residents of Burlingame unite and file complaints against LimeBikes. Do not let these bikes and scooters take over our neighborhoods.
    558-7271 or email bikeshare@burlingame.org
    558-7204 City Attorney

  31. resident

    We better get in front of these limebikes because scooters are right behind them like in the city. A guy in the chronicle asks this question today Dump the scooters
    Regarding “Complaints roll in over scooter crush” (April 10): If the scooters are left on sidewalks of San Francisco (especially in unsafe ways), doesn’t that make them trash? Perhaps it is our civic duty to help keep city sidewalks clean by dumping abandoned scooters into the nearest trash can.
    Herbert Lin, San Francisco

  32. Peter Garrison

    This means we are never going to have flying cars. It’s a good idea but people mess it up.

  33. Joe

    Strangely enough I happened to pick up the Staff Report on bicycle regulation at the City Council meeting where Charles Voltz was honored. They were handouts and I thought “maybe this is where the LimeBike crackdown will originate”. Mostly it updates an 80 year old ordinance requiring a license to have a bike in town…… BUT seven pages in, section 13.52.150 Parking in racks–Impounding bicycles lying on sidewalks sounds promising:
    “All bicycles found lying on the sidewalk may be taken up and impounded by the police department, from whence they may be recovered by proving property and obtaining and order from the chief of police or his or her designee.”
    Not sure we want to go that far with Limmies, but it does lay out the premise that they can’t just be left anywhere.

  34. Laura

    Read an article in a S.F. paper yesterday about the scooters. S.F. getting tons of complaints about them blocking sidewalks and have been collecting them if the are left on sidewalk. It costs companies like Lime Bikes something like $100 to get it back. Sure hope our City listens to the problems others are having and does not allow the scooters to join the liter bikes.

  35. Ian

    The angst about these bikes is pretty amusing – we’re perfectly fine with hundreds of parked cars lining every street in Burlingame, but a few dozen bicycles in town and they’re “taking over our neighborhoods”.
    Cycling around town is easy, healthy, cheap and clean – quit whining about the bikes and start pedaling one.

  36. Laura

    If the bikes Ian were parked in a stall or parking lot like cars, it wouldn’t be a problem. If they had docking stations around town, not a problem. These bikes are being dumped across sidewalks, in bushes on pathways and everywhere in between. I’ve watched seniors out for a walk around the block, have difficulty navigating around them as they are quite heavy to move. Mothers with strollers, same issue. Kids on a tricycle, same issue. Perhaps they aren’t being dumped in your neighborhood but for those of us they are, it’s a problem.

  37. Jennifer

    ‘Agree with Laura. Maybe further away from the center they aren’t left everywhere, but many close-in neighborhoods are being affected. Yesterday I attempted to move two of them “out of the way” and they are quite heavy.
    Much to my surprise, a loud electronic voice of some sort, that sounded very much like the old ‘Lost in Space’ robot voice screaming “Will Robinson!”, warned me not to move the bike without unlocking it, and that the Police were going to be alerted.
    I think it’s great that people are biking more and it helps drivers generally develop more caution and awareness, but I think there are a number of aspects with this company (and probably similar companies) that are not well thought out. There should be some basic verbiage (big enough for people to see) on the bike saying they should never obstruct the sidewalks, etc.,
    I really do feel sorry for older or otherwise handicapped people or even those with strollers who must have to maneuver around them.

  38. BMW

    The concept is good, but the rollout of the program seemed rushed and not well-thought out.
    The good news, to some, is that it’s a 6 month pilot that started after Christmas last year. So we’re a little past half-way, with the pilot theoretically ending in June. Here stolen from a ND thread are some findings:
    http://burlingameca.legistar.com/gateway.aspx?M=F&ID=6bfe0d49-4a1a-480d-b8b0-68787f32a476.pdf
    Also, our neighbor to the south San Mateo just signed up for their own pilot. 12 months, 300 bikes.

  39. Joe

    From today’s City e-newsletter:
    The City of Burlingame Police Department is encouraging motorists and bicyclists to reevaluate their safety practices and take extra precautions when sharing roads, and around designated bike pathways.
    This timely reminder happens to coincide with Burlingame City Council’s decision, on Monday, to extend the City’s LimeBike pilot program another six months. LimeBike users took 4,073 rides on LimeBikes in Burlingame alone last month. With summer vacation for students around the corner, bike ridership is expected to increase.
    A helmet is the single most effective way to prevent head injury resulting from a bicycle crash. Cyclists who wear a helmet reduce their risk of head injury by an estimated 60% and brain injury by 58%. Helmets are required by law for riders under the age of 18.

  40. Peter Garrison

    Just rode Primrose to Channing to the Rec. Ctr.
    $2.50 for less than 10 minutes.

Leave a Reply

RECENT COMMENTS

RECENT POSTS

CATEGORIES

ABOUT THE VOICE

The Burlingame Voice is dedicated to informing and empowering the Burlingame community.  Our blog is a public forum for the discussion of issues that relate to Burlingame, California.  Opinions posted on the Burlingame Voice are those of the poster and commenter and not necessarily the opinion of the Editorial Board.  Comments are subject to the Terms of Use.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All content subject to Copyright 2003-2026

Discover more from The Burlingame Voice

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading