There’s another scooter vendor in Orlando, and they call themselves Lynx

With a third competitor on the scene, Orlando is finally getting the whole scooter-rental thing. After first testing the waters with rentable bikes, the Orlando City Commission eventually allowed rentable motorized scooters, the first of which were unleashed on the city on Jan. 17, the day Orlando became a scooter city in earnest.

That’s when Lime, the most commonly known company, dropped off the initial 200 of its fleet, and reeled in every local media outlet for a first-look trial run. We lined up and hopped on the scoots as anybody would, salivating, skrt-ing about a downtown Orlando parking garage like it was middle-aged recess. 

Lime soon after removed its bikes from Orlando, leaving only the motorized scooters to compete with later newcomer Bird scooters. Now, spotted on the Ivanhoe streets by Orlando Business Journal’s Ryan Lynch, who shared a pic on Twitter – we have Lynx scooters. And they’re way cheaper than Lime or Bird.

They each cost $1 to start. Lime costs a wild 29 cents a minute. Bird costs a ridiculous 39 cents a minute. Lynx costs 15 cents a minute.

At the January Lime media event, everyone there was understandably pumped to skrt-skrt. Few asked Lime how much it would cost to actually take a ride, or did any calculating of what would make a worthwhile distance for regular people who need to, you know, get the fuck around.

Double the price of St. Paul? It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but $3 rides add up.

As your middle-aged media man on duty, I stunted on everybody, adeptly zipping around the garage. How? I’m new to Orlando by way of St. Paul, Minnesota, the Twin Cities, where scooters have been out since August of 2018. And there, they cost $1 to start and 15 cents a minute.

I asked how much each ride would be. Bro in the Lime hat said a buck plus 29 cents a minute. Everyone else moved on. I mean, double the price of St. Paul? It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but $3 rides add up.

During the approval process, District 1 Commissioner Regina Hill, who represents neighborhoods in West Orlando including Parramore, said people told her they really liked Lime bikes. Other bike rentals, like HOPR, are still around, but the count of available bikes has dropped with the Lime bikes gone. The bikes also have baskets, handy for trips to the grocery store.

It just sorta feels like the whole scooter thing is more of a lifestyle thing. It’s definitely a look. The ultimate question, however, is will be whether they safely address the issue of Orlando’ public transportation “missing mile.“
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This article appears in New Restaurants 2020.