Lime gives its Seattle bikes a break — for the winter at least

Those green Lime rental bikes are about to disappear from Seattle streets, at least for now.

The company will remove 2,000 bikes by December 31, when its current permit with the city expires.

Lime said it's reducing its operations during the winter season in large part because demand is lower.

It'll work with the city on a new permit and plans to return the bikes by the spring. It's also trying to work out a deal to make e-scooters available to users in 2020.

Seattle launched bike sharing in 2014 with Pronto, which required people to check bikes out of docks. A few months later dockless bike rentals came to the city, effectively deflating Pronto, which folded in 2017.

But even the more free-form bike sharing companies struggled. Yellow Ofo bikes left in August 2018 and orange Spin bikes rolled away a few weeks after that.

All that's left now are Uber's red JUMP bikes, which include the advantage of having electronic assist for Seattle's hilly terrain.

Kara McDermott contributed to reporting.