Minneapolis, MN
Minneapolis launches year-round shared e-bike and scooter program
For Minneapolis residents and tourists seeking transportation options beyond cars and buses, the city launched its shared e-bike and scooter program.
Companies Lime and Spin will pilot year-round operations, as the weather allows. Previously, the program shut down at the end of November and resumed in April.
“What’s kind of changing this year is we have their license actually extends through the winter, and so if they still find it worth it, they’re going to be authorized to keep their vehicles out throughout the winter, as long as there’s not an excessive amount of snow and ice buildup,” said Dillon Fried, a senior project manager with the city’s public works department who oversees the program.
Fried said licensees Lime and Spin will each have 1,000 e-bikes and 1,000 scooters to rent. Both companies will have Class 1 pedal assist e-bikes and Class 2 e-bikes.
The city said equity is a focus of the program. At least 30 percent of the scooters must be distributed in equity distribution areas in north and south Minneapolis. A maximum of 40 percent is allowed in downtown, and the remaining 30 percent is for other neighborhoods.
“If you don’t own your bike, or if you’re somewhere where you don’t have your bike around, and you want to take a trip on an e-bike or scooter that’s relatively affordable, it’s a great option to use micro-mobility instead of using some other type of transportation,” Fried said.
Fried says in 2024, participants took 1.25 million rides, surpassing pre-pandemic levels by 200,000.
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Minneapolis, MN
Lynx fend off Paige Bueckers' homecoming in Minneapolis to top Wings, remain undefeated
Paige Bueckers’ homecoming in Minneapolis didn’t quite go as she might have hoped.
Bueckers and the Dallas Wings dropped their third straight game to open the WNBA season on Wednesday night. While they mounted a bit of a comeback late, and Bueckers made a bit of league history in the process, the Minnesota Lynx held on to grab the 85-81 win at the Target Center. That spoiled Bueckers’ first professional game back in her hometown after she was taken No. 1 overall in last month’s WNBA Draft.
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The Wings came out hot on a 15-5 run, though that almost immediately fell apart. The Lynx responded with a 16-3 run to take control by the end of the first quarter.
The Lynx then pushed their lead to double digits late in the second quarter and nearly entered the locker room with a 10-point advantage after Natisha Hiedeman’s wild half-court shot at the buzzer went in. Her shot was deemed just barely too late, however, and the Lynx’s lead remained seven.
Bueckers struggled in the first half, too. She went just 1 of 6 from the field and didn’t score until late in the second quarter when she finally hit a 3-pointer.
Napheesa Collier dropped 12 points in the third quarter, including a 15-footer right before the buzzer to keep the Wings at bay over the next 10 minutes. Bueckers drilled her second 3-pointer just a few minutes into the fourth quarter, and then DiJonai Carrington drilled one of her own a few minutes later to make it a one-possession game. Then, after a bit of a fight down the stretch, Arike Ogunbowale drilled a 3-pointer from the wing with just 39 seconds on the clock to keep the Wings in it.
But Collier hit a pair of free throws after that, and Bueckers missed a last-ditch 3-pointer, which gave the Lynx the four-point win. That pushed them to 3-0 on the season and dropped the Wings to 0-3.
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Collier led the way for the Lynx with 28 points and eight rebounds while shooting 8 of 13 from the field. Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams added 13 points a piece, too. The Lynx had 27 assists on 28 made field goals and outrebounded the Wings by 16.
Ogunbowale led the Wings with 21 points and five assists, and Myisha Hines-Allen added 11 points. Bueckers dropped 12 points and 10 assists, shooting 3 of 11 from the field and 2 of 5 from behind the arc. Bueckers is now just the third player in WNBA history to record a points-assists double-double in the first three games of her career. She’s the first since Shoni Schimmel did it in 2014, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
Bueckers grew up in Hopkins, Minnesota, a suburb on the southwestern side of the Twin Cities. She led her high school to a state title in 2019 while being named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, which helped kickstart her remarkable run at UConn. So, earlier this month ahead of Bueckers’ first career WNBA game, Hopkins changed its name to honor her.
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The town, for a single day, became “Paige Bueckers, Minnesota.” There were countless events throughout the town, including a watch party for the Wings’ season opener. That game coincidentally also was against the Lynx, just in Dallas.
While Wednesday’s game wasn’t great for Bueckers, she at least got to play it in a familiar place and cross off a major milestone. And, as she’s still just three games into her WNBA career, Bueckers should have plenty of chances to win at the Target Center — starting when the Wings travel back to Minneapolis on Sept. 1.
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