The People is our section for opinions and perspectives. Submit your opinion to info@thetriibe.com.
On Chicago’s South Side, transportation is not an abstract policy debate. It is the difference between making a shift on time, getting to a doctor’s appointment, riding to a grocery store, attending class or commuting throughout our neighborhoods. Our neighborhoods have been underserved by CTA for decades, and for many Lime has been a lifeline. We want the Chicago City Council to think carefully before acting rashly and forcing out a company that has invested in our communities and become a reliable part of how we get around.
Shared micromobility helps fill gaps in transit networks and connects people to jobs, school, small businesses, to neighborhoods, and to the city’s buses and trains. Chicago has a vibrant working class that has thrived thanks to one of the biggest and most equitable transportation programs in the country. But now a new proposal could cut our options in half by rushing a process that should be thorough and transparent.
Divvy has been around for a long time and we appreciate what it’s done for getting around Chicago on two wheels, but Lime does amazing work in our communities and has always focused its entire operation here on affordable and equitable transportation options for the South and West Sides. That is why the Chicago City Council should take a careful, public look at Lyft’s proposed contract extension and expansion before moving forward.
In 2025, Lime provided approximately 6.1 million rides in Chicago—nearly half of the city’s shared micromobility rides—even while operating only e-scooters and without access to the full central business district. More than 47 percent of Lime’s 2025 trips took place on the South and West Sides. Since 2019, more than 600,000 Chicagoans have taken over 7.1 million Lime Access and automatic-discount equity rides.
Those numbers represent real choices for real people. Lime’s 50 percent automatic discount in South and West Side Equity Priority Areas, along with Lime Access discounts for eligible riders, is the kind of affordability policy a transit system should protect—not leave vulnerable to a rushed decision.
It’s ironic that perhaps the most unfair part of the proposed extension would lock Lime, or any other operator, out of additional access to the central business district beyond what Lyft already has. Given that Lime focuses so much on the South and West sides, a monopoly would unfairly benefit one company, lock profits into Lyft, and offer no thought for how that would affect the rest of the city.
Through We Keep You Rollin’, community rides and wellness activities help make Chicago more livable, sustainable, and vibrant. Lime has been an eager and willing partner and we hope to work with them for years to come to continue providing mobility options for the South Side.
The City Council should pump the brakes on a rushed backroom deal and think long and hard about making it easier for Lime and Lyft to serve all of Chicago, not chase out companies that provide an economic lifeline for our neighborhoods.
