Op-Ed: Lime bikes are a nuisance

Story and Photos by Michael Bachety

I don’t want to be the curmudgeon I’ve become, but these lime bikes are a nuisance, to me at least. 

They are dumped everywhere and are heavy to move out of the way. So, I’d like to ask the community if it’s just me, and/or if something should be done to address this issue/problem.

In other cities, you must return the e-bike to any charging station (at stations, shops, schools, etc.) to end your ride; this being the infrastructure that we don’t have.

When I wrote to the city asking them to confront the company to build just that, or maybe penalize the rider a dollar if they park/dump an e-bike on a sidewalk, my eventual reply from the city was metaphorically an equity, finger-wagging admonition.

After I thought deeply as to how horribly insensitive of a human I am, for 3-5 seconds, I then thought well maybe the company could incentivize a rider by giving them a dollar for being responsible. 

This has the added benefit of the rider possibly realizing that other people use the sidewalks too and now I’m a considerate person with an extra dollar.

By the way, where is the equity for a resident in a wheelchair? Why do we even have ADA accessible curbs and sidewalks? 

I know people in wheelchairs exist. I see them hugging the side of the street on Linden Ave N. Honestly, that’s because we have no continuous sidewalks on Linden Ave N, though we have begged the city and were promised them, which has been about a decade now.

(Side note: if your kid goes to Shorewood HS and walks to Fred Meyer for lunch, they all walk in the street. I also hear the vroom of cars fly past these kids. I don’t know what the Doppler Effect is, but I know the sound of a car going double the speed limit.)

Anyway, I do see a necessary need for e-bikes for many practical reasons. 

All I’m asking is to end this laissez-faire attitude of governing and proactively address these types of situations that arise, and specifically how we can all get around safely within our community - all of us.

Michael Bachety

Shoreline