This spring, when Lime Bike’s rental program returns to Chelsea’s streets, riders will experience something new.
Last year, Chelsea participated in a Lime Bike initiative alongside 16 other nearby communities. According to Council President Damali Vidot, the bike rental service will resume operations this year.
The program will look different this time around, however. Lime is rolling out electric-assisted bicycles across the region.
Since electric bicycles are currently prohibited in Chelsea, Vidot brought an ordinance before the City Council that would permit them, provided they do not exceed 15 miles per hour.
“Since the late Summer of 2017, the City of
Chelsea has been experimenting with dockless bikes, initially as a pilot with
the company Ofo and then, last year, as part of a regional Metropolitan Area
Planning Council (MAPC) contract with Lime Bike,” City Manager Tom Ambrosino wrote in correspondence to the Council. “Notwithstanding some minor complaints, I
believe the experiment has been successful.”
According to the city manager, the dockless bikes attracted more than 4,000 users in Chelsea last year, who completed nearly 20,000 trips combined.
“The City would like to continue this
dockless bike program in 2019,” Ambrosino noted. “However, there has been a
change in the marketplace for dockless bikes. All the companies in this arena
are moving away from pedal powered bikes to electric assisted bikes, including
Lime Bike.”
In order to maintain Chelsea’s participation in the regional Lime partnership and permit the bicycles, the city must modify the existing ordinance that currently bans them.
“Over the past month, we have explored the
options of replacing Lime Bike with another company that might offer dockless
pedal only bikes, but no operator is interested in the restriction,” Ambrosino explained.
Although the ordinance revision would enable electric-assisted bicycles, Ambrosino clarified that electric scooters will not be permitted on public streets in the foreseeable future.
“I am just alerting the Council that the use
of such scooters may soon become ubiquitous in surrounding communities,” he added.
Councillor-At-Large Roy Avellaneda expressed enthusiasm about this transportation advancement.
“I’m looking forward to them,” he remarked. “I
took a practice ride, and it was quite fun.”
•Turning to another transportation matter, Ambrosino advised the City Council to consider the potential emergence of autonomous vehicles.
“Right now, testing of such vehicles is
underway in Boston and other communities,” he noted.
Like the electric-assisted bicycles, autonomous vehicles would require the Council to revise local ordinances. A partnership between MassDOT and MAPC could facilitate a pilot program for self-driving vehicles in the Industrial District.
“It is likely to be some time before
autonomous vehicles actually appear on this pilot route,” Ambrosino explained. “Again, such testing cannot occur until the City has given express permission.
However, I just wanted to give the Council notice that this transportation
innovation is moving forward and may someday make its way to Chelsea.”