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Lime decides to temporarily halt its services in WA, CA, & Europe

Date: March 18, 2020 Sunil Jha Sunil Jha
Lime decides to temporarily halt its services in WA, CA, & Europe 
U.S. based transportation company Lime has apparently announced that it plans to halt its e-bike and e-scooter services across a few cities and nations, in the wake of the rising measures undertaken by major firms to curb the spread of COVID-19.

As per sources familiar with the knowledge of the matter, the company is pausing its services in Spain, France, and Italy, across Europe, while in the U.S., the services are being halted in California and Washington. This would be effective from Tuesday, sources claimed.

In the other regional markets however, Lime plans to increase the frequency and quality of its cleaning procedures. It has been recommending that riders consistently wipe the bikes or wear gloves.

A blog post from Lime states that the company takes into consideration, the safety of people and the cities it serves, on account of which it has taken the decision to halt its services temporarily, to help people remain safe.

For the uninitiated, Lime had started removing its e-bikes from the streets of Seattle last year, in the middle of discussions pertaining to piloting a scooter-sharing service. Apparently, the project was to piloted this spring, however, considering the current critical COVID-19 situation in the city, this seems highly unlikely. Lime’s other rentable electric scooters had been available across numerous cities in Washington, that were permitted prior to this announcement.

JUMP, Seattle’s last remaining bike-share service, will apparently continue to operate in the city, albeit with a reduced fleet. The company will take decisions as and how the situation evolves, as claimed by the Uber spokesperson, Stephanie Sedlak.

An email post by Sedlak states that JUMP has apparently increased the number of cleaning procedures, and has also been taking steps to disinfect all the e-bikes and scooters that are traversing between warehouses. Furthermore, the staff responsible for the cleaning process has been wearing gloves and also taking all the steps necessary to maintain proper personal hygiene, Sedlak says, adding that the company will continue to be highly vigilant in its cleaning process and will also encourage riders to be cautious regarding the cleanliness of the vehicle, before and after use.

 

Source credits: https://www.geekwire.com/2020/lime-temporarily-shuts-ca-wa-european-counties-slow-coronavirus/

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Sunil Jha

Sunil Jha has been a part of the content industry for close to two years. Having previously worked as a voice over artist and sportswriter, he now focuses on writing articles for newsorigins.com, across a slew of topics, ranging from technology to trade and finance. With a business-oriented educational background, Sunil brings forth the expertise of deep-dive research and a strategic approach in his write ups.