United States micro-mobility company Lime has launched its electric scooter rental service in Mexico City.

The battery-powered, shared scooters can be hired in the neighborhoods of Polanco, Anzures, Juárez, Condesa and Roma, all located to the west of Mexico City’s downtown.

To access the service, Lime users pay 10 pesos to unlock a scooter via a mobile application and then 3 pesos per minute.

When a ride is completed, the dockless scooters can be parked by the curb of any street in the designated operating area.

“Lime is committed to providing Mexico City with easy, quick and sustainable travel solutions,” said Alexander Wieland, Lime’s Mexico general manager.

“E-scooters are relatively new in Mexico, and we believe our partnership with Mexico City will help them achieve their clean-air goals while creating a positive economic impact through job creation . . .”

The company is working with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and other partners to ensure that the introduction of the scooters on the capital’s traffic-clogged streets is safe.

“Lime, like other mobility solutions for last mile connections is great news for Mexico City. We should have more options other than private cars but . . . of course they should operate with order, safety and be part of a public policy of sustainable mobility,” ITDP Mexico director Bernardo Baranda said.

Lime launched in June 2017 and has since entered more than 100 markets across the United States and Europe with its scooters and electric bikes.

It is the second scooter company to enter the Mexico City market after the Mexican company Grin, whose scooters are currently available in Roma and Condesa.

Some Mexico City residents have complained on social media that the scooters clog up public space such as sidewalks and are an eyesore but others have welcomed their arrival.

Mexico City also has a well-established, city government-run shared bicycle scheme called EcoBici, which last year added 340 electric bikes to its inventory.

The Chinese company Mobike entered the market this year but soon hit a significant hurdle: bicycle theft.

Mexico News Daily