While voter turnout was low for the August primaries, e-scooter company Lime saw more riders utilizing free rides to the polls than during the June primaries earlier this summer.
The company gave Bronxites the opportunity to ride the green and white scooters to and from the polls for free during early voting and on Election Day on Aug. 23 with a promo code for up to 30 minutes each way.
For the August primaries, the code was used for 817 rides, or between 409 and 817 people, nearly double the amount the same promo was utilized in the June 28 primaries, according to Lime spokesperson Jacob Tugendrajch.
Lime saw people taking advantage of the Lime to the Polls initiative the most in Parkchester, Westchester Square, Classon Point, Soundview, and the area between the Bronx River Parkway, the Bruckner and the Cross Bronx Expressway, he said. This area is in the southwestern part of the east Bronx e-scooter pilot zone.
Lime is one of three companies participating in the two-year Bronx e-scooter pilot, which launched last summer in the northeast Bronx and expanded this summer in the southeast Bronx.
The devices can be rented off the sidewalk using the e-scooter companies’ apps and used only within the pilot zone.
A map provided by Lime shows where riders began and ended their trips, with dots representing both start and end points. The yellow dots are the shortest trips and the red dots are the longest trips.
“It’s exciting to see so many Bronxites used the Lime to the Polls discount to reach their poll sites,” Tugendrajch said. “Boosting turnout is what this initiative is all about, so we’re glad we could help.”
The company found that riders used the promo code properly — actually to and from poll sites — for all or nearly all the rides, according to Tugendrajch.
The initiative is meant to reduce transportation barriers such as cost and lack of car ownership for Bronx residents, according to the company. The company will offer the free rides again for the midterm elections in November as part of the voter access initiative in partnership with national voting organizations.
Lime to the Polls isn’t new, with the company beginning to offer free rides to the polls in 2018 and 2020 United States elections, and since growing to Canada, France and London elections. The program was expanded in the Bronx to cover early voting during the June primaries this year.
Reach Aliya Schneider at aschneider@schnepsmedia.com or (718) 260-4597. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
