Former SDOT Director Scott Kubly hired by bikeshare Limebike
Mar 13, 2018, 6:14 PM | Updated: 6:15 pm
Former SDOT Director Scott Kubly. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
It didn’t take long for Scott Kubly to find a new job after leaving his position as director of the Seattle Department of Transportation. Bikeshare company Limebike has hired him as its new chief programs officer.
Welcome to the ride, @SKubly! LimeBike is excited to have Scott as our Chief Programs Officer. He will bring to the table a blend of strategic thinking, political acumen, and operational know-how. #LimeFam https://t.co/wbaS7YZ52i
— LimeBike (@limebike) March 13, 2018
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Limebike is one of three bikeshare companies currently operating in Seattle. They rolled into town under Kubly’s leadership at SDOT last summer. Kubly will not handle government relations for Limebike, but he will still be barred from working on anything related to the City of Seattle.
Geekwire reports that Kubly will work at Limebike’s San Mateo, Calif. headquarters.
Because the three companies operating in Seattle are stationless bikeshares — SPIN, Limebike, and ofo — they are technically still under a pilot program. They therefore seek to make their presence permanent.
Before coming to Seattle, Kubly briefly worked at Motivate — a bikeshare company previously known as Alta. He was caught in an ethics violation when he failed to report his conflict of interest with Motivate, which managed Seattle’s now-failed Pronto bikeshare program. Pronto was bailed out by the city for $1.4 million before it was shut down. The SDOT director was fined $5,000 for the infraction.
Kubly and Rowe go to bikeshares
Kubly is the second SDOT executive to jump from the city to one of the bikshare companies operating in Seattle. Kyle Rowe was SDOT’s go-to bikeshare authority before he went to work for SPIN as head of government partnerships — just four months after the company came to Seattle. He helped draft the bikeshare rules that the companies now operate under.
Rowe is prevented from working with Seattle for one year, and with SDOT for two years, while working for SPIN.
