Washington University expanded its agreement with Lime for the next three months, deciding to keep the short-term rental bikes on campus until Lime phases out its current pedal bikes for electric-assist models this spring.

Back in August, Lime and the University began a pilot program that brought around two dozen bikes to campus. The initial agreement was set to end Dec. 31 before the University chose to extend it.

The Office of Sustainability put out a survey from December to early January to assess the response to the program. According to Sustainability Coordinator from the Office of Sustainability Clara Steyer, the survey showed that the program has been successful at its goal of offering a low-cost, environmentally-friendly way to get around the University and its surrounding community.

“It was really great to see that a lot of people are using LimeBikes to commute and for transportation, as opposed to just for leisure and exercise,” Steyer said. “It really shows that [the program] is in response to a need.”

Sophomore Olly Cohen, co-owner of Bears Bikes, says that having Lime on campus has not affected the number of rentals at the student-run bike business, despite concerns about possible competition when the bikes were introduced.

He said students use Lime and Bears Bikes for different reasons: Lime for short-term rentals and Bears Bikes for semester or year-long rentals.

While it hasn’t affected rental numbers, the introduction of Lime has directly led Cohen to look into short-term options. He is developing an app-based rental system of two dozen bikes for visiting families through the Office of Admissions, with the goal of starting it later this semester.

“[Lime has] changed the way we think about the bike business and given us some new ideas for what we can do,” Cohen said. “This partnership with the admissions office, we think, has the potential to be really successful.”

Sophomore Adina Loomis said that she believes the LimeBikes are convenient to have on campus.

“Personally, I like LimeBikes because, over the summer, when I didn’t have a bike, it made it easier for me to get around. I used them in Forest Park and on campus,” Loomis wrote in a comment to Student Life. “Given the student discount that you get, I found that it’s a really affordable way to get to where I needed to be.”

The Lime partnership was extended for three months to align with the company’s goal of removing its pedal bikes in favor of electric-assist ones. The new bikes, which will come to St. Louis in the spring, use electricity at times, like when the rider is going uphill, but are mechanical at other times, like when the rider is on flat ground.

The future bikes will be more similar to Lime’s e-scooters, which are completely electric. However, the discount for bikers with a student email address will go away. Once the new bikes are rolled out in the coming months, users will have to pay one dollar to unlock a bike and 15 cents per minute after that, the same rate as the e-scooters, rather than 50 cents per hour for a pedal bike.

While this will make the bikes more expensive later this year, Steyer thinks they will still be a good option for students and faculty.

“With the Uber program ending at the end of the semester, I think there will be a demand for short-trip, on-campus to off-campus transportation, especially in the Loop and the surrounding neighborhoods,” Steyer said. “I think the electric bikes can really fill this demand.”

The Office of Sustainability survey also gave Steyer ideas for the program going into its next three months. She learned that finding bikes was sometimes a problem; so, the office will now maintain a baseline number of bikes on campus at all times.

Steyer also said that over 90 percent of the survey’s 450 respondents had a positive view of the partnership.

“I’m overall really excited about Wash. U. being a part of this big innovation, and I really think the bike share is a great addition to our transportation option mix,” Steyer said.