Here’s a winner you may not have expected: Lime scooters.
The micromobility platform Lime announced Monday that riders in Dallas took more than 100,000 trips totaling more than 142,000 miles during the tournament period. Ridership peaked at 113% above baseline levels on July 14, when nearby AT&T Stadium hosted the semifinal matchup between France and Spain. Average monthly ridership for the City of Dallas’ entire dockless vehicle program was around 50,000 rides in the second half of last year, albeit with a smaller fleet.
Best known for e-scooters, Lime also provides e-bikes and, since March, LimeGliders, a seated scooter, available to ride through its app.
“When a city hosts major events, people need transportation options that are convenient, flexible, and easy to use in high-demand areas,” said Lonny Stern, Lime’s senior regional lead of government relations for Texas, in a statement. “During the tournament period, Lime helped residents and visitors make short trips around Dallas without adding another car to already busy streets, and the data shows how strongly riders responded during one of the city’s biggest match days of the summer.”
While no one was taking Lime scooters from Dallas all the way to Arlington to get to the stadium, micromobility played an important role in Dallas’ transportation plan as more than one million visitors and match attendees flooded into the region. Plenty of World Cup attractions remained in Dallas proper, like Fan Fest and the rallies fans of Argentina held at Klyde Warren Park.
Prior to the start of the World Cup, Lime was permitted a total fleet size of 1,750 vehicles by the City of Dallas through the city’s dockless vehicle program. During the tournament, the city allowed 500 additional LimeGliders and 250 additional e-scooters for a total of 2,500 dockless vehicles, with a greater percentage of them (up to 64%) allowed in the Central Dallas Deployment Zone that includes downtown, Uptown and Deep Ellum. Additionally, the city extended all dockless vehicles’ curfew by an hour, allowing rides until 10 p.m., and allowed the vehicles on the Santa Fe Trail Spur between Elm Street and Parry Avenue, so riders could take the vehicles to Fan Fest in Fair Park.
Lime met additional demand with expanded operations and staffing, as well as temporary parking and staging corrals throughout downtown and near Klyde Warren Park. It also offered a Fan Pass with up to 90 minutes of riding for $9.99, free unlocks, and discounted per-minute pricing across a five-day window.