The Secret Data Collected by Dockless Bikes Is Helping Cities Map Your Movement
Lime and other companies are gathering masses of location-based information that some cities are leveraging to improve their streets
By Elizabeth Woyke
Ask Tim Corcoran about the most popular destinations for bike-share trips in South Bend, Indiana, and he can give you a list, or even GPS latitude and longitude coordinates. As the city’s planning director, Corcoran is responsible for overseeing a program that enables residents to rent bicycles via a mobile app and then pick them up and drop them off pretty much wherever and whenever they want. He doesn’t actually run the rental service, though. Lime, a Silicon Valley startup, manages the program and keeps Corcoran in the loop via a steady stream of data about bike activity in South Bend.
Lime is able to collect this information because its bikes, like all those in dockless bike-share programs, are built to operate without fixed stations or corrals. Instead, they transmit their location every few seconds using built-in GPS chips, 3G wireless connections, and solar power. When combined with the Lime app, the setup lets customers locate available bikes and rent them at $1 for 30 minutes. Once done with their trip, riders can…
