Second electric scooter service arrives in Minneapolis

Another electric scooter company swooped into Minneapolis on Monday, just two weeks after Bird became the first company to provide dockless scooter services in the city.

Over the weekend, Lime, formerly known as LimeBike, rolled out its dockless bikes in Golden Valley and Edina before introducing its scooters to Minneapolis.

Unlike Bird, which descended onto the streets of Minneapolis on July 11 as city officials were preparing to come up with regulations, Lime said it has submitted a license application to operate in the city.

The bike- and scooter-sharing startup said 100 scooters are included in its launch fleet in Minneapolis, called Lime-S.

Like Bird scooters, riders use a mobile app to pay a $1 initial fee to unlock the scooter and then 15 cents a minute for a ride. In the next few weeks, the company said it expects to launch Lime Access, a bike service that lets low-income riders purchase 100 rides for $5.

In St. Paul, city officials threatened to remove Bird scooters from the streets until Aug. 3, when the city will launch a pilot licensing program.

In Minneapolis, the City Council passed an ordinance requiring companies to obtain a license to operate motorized scooters in the city. On Tuesday, the city's Transportation and Public Works Committee will discuss the license agreement for scooters.