Lime has announced that the company will be temporarily suspending service in California and Washington, D.C. In addition, the company will suspend electric scooter service in Italy, Spain and France. The goal of each suspension in service is to halt the spread of the COVID-19, better known as coronavirus.
“Like you, we are worried about the cities we love and call home, the people we serve, and our colleagues on the ground,” Lime CEO Brad Bao wrote.
“Loving cities means protecting them too. For now, we’re pausing Lime service to help people stay put and stay safe,” Bao continued.
Thus far, Lime is the first of the major electric scooter companies to take such action. Uber, Lyft, Skip, Spin and Bird have not preemptively suspended service in major markets in the U.S. Instead, major markets like San Francisco have effectively outlawed the scooters for the time being. The city’s “shelter in place” policy has essentially cut out bikes, scooters, etc.
In the ride-sharing space, Uber and Lyft have cut off their carpool services for the time being.
Lime has not indicated when it plans to reinstitute service in those markets as of yet.
