Denver's Max Cortel rode the most miles on Lime bikes and electric scooters in the early mornings of 2024, earning him global recognition from the transportation company. Over the course of the year, Cortel traveled over 4,000 miles — all between 4 and 9 a.m., Lime reports. That's like biking from Denver to Durango ten times.
Cortel says he started using Lime's rentable bikes and e-scooters as transportation alternatives to the bus to avoid traffic and public transit delays. But he soon began enjoying the exercise of bike riding.
"The next thing you know, it was every day I was using the bikes to exercise," Cortel told Lime. "Using it as an exercise bike and to get around, go to stores, go to appointments. ... [It was] literally a game changer in my life. I’m not just saying that, I really mean that.”
Lime awarded Cortel the "most likely to host the a.m. assembly" superlative during its "ride replay" end-of-year campaign for 2024. It was the only prize earned by a Denver resident — other awards include the overall top rider, given to a rider in Washington D.C.; the most weekend trips, for a rider in London; and the most rides in different cities, for a rider in Seattle.
Denver received the "prom committee" award, recognizing the city with the highest percentage of riders who traveled for a large event during their most recent Lime trip.
Lime recorded 5.2 million rides in Denver in 2024 — a 40 percent increase from 2023 — making it a top-five city in North America for Lime ridership. Since the company came to Denver in 2017, more than 2.3 million people have taken 15.4 million trips on Lime bikes and e-scooters, traveling nearly 20 million miles.
“Denver is one of the biggest and best micromobility cities in North America," says Zach Williams, senior director of government relations at Lime.
"We’re grateful to the city and to DOTI for its embrace of sustainable transportation," he adds. "We look forward to doubling down on our partnership in 2025, supporting the soaring demand for shared electric vehicles while remaining focused on safety and parking.”
Lime is one of two companies permitted to provide rentable bikes and e-scooters in Denver; Bird took over Lyft's contract with the city in December. Denver residents have taken more than 23.6 million trips on micromobility devices since 2019, according to the city's dashboard. That averages to 11,100 trips per day.
The growing ridership has come with growing concerns surrounding micromobility devices in the city. Denver City Council has started talks about addressing illegal e-scooter use, such as parked scooters blocking sidewalks, curbs or streets, and reckless behavior like riding on sidewalks and riding while intoxicated. This comes as the city grapples with increasingly frequent scooter collisions.
Worldwide, Lime reported over 175 million rides across approximately 280 cities in thirty countries in 2024.
