Lime moves HQ to San Francisco, which banned scooters

Lime, one of three electronic scooters companies who laced city streets with two-wheeled devices in April, will move its headquarters from San Mateo to San Francisco beginning August 1.

“Many of our employees already live in San Francisco, and with this move, we hope to hire more homegrown talent, create jobs, and contribute to the local economy,” said Toby Sun, Lime co-founder and CEO. “San Francisco is ground-zero for the progressive movement and the tech capital of the world, and we want to tap into that energy and knowledge as we continue this journey and grow the Lime brand around the world.”

The new office will be located at One Sansome Street, also known as Citigroup Center, in the Financial District—or, roughly nine blocks away from Uber’s headquarters at 1455 Market. Lime announced Uber as a “strategic partner” in July. The ride-hailing mammoth will offer Lime scooter rental through its app.

Lime will partner with local artist and San Francisco Commissioner Debra Walker, who will create “a sustainable mural” inside the new Lime office, which will, according to a press release, “showcase Lime’s commitment to the environment and will be featured alongside other sustainable aspects of the office, including furniture and office decorations made from recycled bike and scooter parts.”

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

Lime’s SF move could be viewed as a forgiving one: San Francisco temporarily banned the company’s devices from city streets in May. The three major e-scooter rental companies (Bird, LimeBike, and Spin) were ordered to move their products off streets and sidewalks by June 4 and not resume renting until permits are issued.

When asked about the date of the impending pilot program, company spokesperson Joe Arellano told Curbed SF, “We have heard that the decision will be made some time in August. Not much beyond that.”

• Everything you need to know about the great electric-scooter takeover of San Francisco [Curbed SF]
• SF orders scooters off sidewalks and streets until city selects permit holders [Curbed SF]
• Uber adds scooters to its increasingly multimodal options [Curbed]
• Scooters and e-bikes begin to replace car trips [Curbed]