Dock free mobility is helping to solve a host of important transportation issues, from carbon and traffic reduction to equitable mobility access for all.



Despite these advantages, however, it’s also given rise to a unique problem: without docking stations, how can companies ensure that their vehicles are upright?



Bikes and scooters that have been knocked over by the wind or intentionally pushed to the ground aren’t just an eyesore for the city; they can block sidewalk access and cause mobility disruptions for pedestrians and the handicapped.



At Lime, we take these concerns seriously, which is why we’re using technology to lead the charge in making them right.



Enter Lime’s new, fleet-wide orientation alert system. It sends a notification to our operations team the moment a bike or scooter has been knocked over, allowing us to quickly dispatch nearby specialists to correct the issue.









“All of our bikes and scooters have a sensor inside of them,” explains Aash Anand, senior data analyst at Lime. “This sensor tells us not just the location and elevation of the vehicles, but also how they’re oriented.”



Think of it like the sensor inside your smartphone that allows you to manipulate game objects with a tilt of your screen. As soon as one of our bikes or scooters registers that it’s no longer upright, it sends a signal to Lime letting us know exactly when and where it was tipped over.



“The hardware has always been there,” continues Aash. “Now we’ve simply developed the software that allows our vehicles to tell us, in essence: ‘Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.’”



Nineties references notwithstanding, Lime’s orientation alert system is the latest in a host of solutions we’re advancing to help address community feedback and improve personal mobility.



While it may not prevent the wind from picking up or stop individuals from vandalizing a subsidy-free public utility, this industry-leading software is one more positive step in keeping our cities clean and our walkways accessible.



We’re in this together.