Lime Bikes In London – Their Origin and Future

I have been in London since 2021, a newbie, I know! Whether we are looking at Lime Scooters, Lime Bikes, Forest Bikes, Voi Scooters or Voi Bikes, the fleet bike economy has grown hugely since then. In this article I will be exploring Lime bikes specifically, looking at when then first appeared, how it’s going, and what the future looks like.

Who are Lime Anyway?

Lime is a micromobility company based in the USA which specialises in fleets of e-bikes and e-scooters. The company started in 2017, and in 2018 began working with Uber. They do not own Lime, but you will see the Uber name on some Lime Bikes, and you can use the Uber app to unlock and use Lime bikes and scooters.

In Q4 of 2018, the lovely now city of Milton Keynes in the South East of England, where I personally have spent much time driving around their roundabouts got the first UK fleet. Following this, Lime set their sites on my now home London, specifically Brent and Ealing. At launch they were mostly lime green, much different to the current mostly white model that you will recognise.

Origins of Lime and a Snapshot of their Competitors

These bikes originally had a cost of £1 to unlock, then 15 pence per minute thereafter. Since then, Lime as a company has come leaps and bounds, it is now in 6 UK cities, 2 of which we have already covered, with additional bikes now stationed in Bristol, Manchester, Nottingham & Oxford. This is great for residents of these places, and those who travel to 2 or more for work, as this means one app for all light travel needs. This means there is no need to rely on public transport once you reach the city.

You will know that Lime have E-Scooters alongside E-Bbikes, whilst this is an article about the bikes and a separate one is in the works about their scooters, it’s worth mentioning here that following the success of the bikes, Lime were back in Milton Keynes in August 2020 to trial their e-scooters. Following this, they came to London in June 2021, and were the only E-Scooters in London until 25th September 2023, where Swedish company Voi brought their fleet along.

As time has passed the design of the Lime bike is very different to what it used to be. We are now onto the v4 Lime bike and whilst Lime do not note their exact number, it is estimated that there are 50,000 of them just in London.

Lime’s Key Competitors and their Fleets

So, what is the cost of a Lime ride at present, and how does this compare to their competitors?

This becomes a little murky, as providers offer packages, monthly subscriptions where you no longer pay for unlocks, Cycle2Work integration, and more. I have used the company apps to get this data, but there are some mentions of different pricing in different boroughs, so please check this information on your own phone.

Please note that the numbers of bikes in each fleet are not public information, and so I cannot be exact, but am using publicly available data.

Under each provider there is a suggestion of who the service is best for. This of course depends on you, so please do read all of the information, and go to the providers website if there is anything you need clarification on.

Lime: 50,000 e-bikes – Unable to find data on how many e-scooters.

Standard cost

• E-Bike cost: £1 to unlock then 29 pence per minute
• E-Scooter cost: £1 to unlock then 17 pence per minute

LimePass (For e-scooters and e-bikes)

• Use within 1 day: 30 minutes for £3.99 (13.30 pence per minute)
• Use within 3 days: 60 minutes for £6.99 (11.65 pence per minute)
• Use within 7 days: 200 minutes for £18.99 (9.45 pence per minute)
• Use within 30 days 400 minutes for £36.99 (9.25 pence per minute)

LimePrime

• Unlimited free unlocks (usually £1) and 30 minute reservations (usually 10 minutes) for £8.99 per month

Cycle2Work

• There are various options for Lime (bikes only) on the Cycle2Work scheme (your workplace typically chooses the options offered to employees). Based on the variety of options, and the salary sacrifice tax implications, I have opted to link this.

Best for: The individual who requires a bike to be somewhere when they need it, as I have a plan with Forest that is amazing value I usually choose them, but I often have to walk past hundreds of Lime Bikes, and a few Lime Scooters in order to find my bike!

Forest: 14,000 e-bikes.

Standard cost

• E-Bike cost: £1 to unlock then 31 pence per minute
• Recently changed from 10 free minutes a day to a free 1 – 30 minutes a day, depending on where they do and don’t want their bikes to be sitting – this can be seen in the app

Bundles

• 24 hours to use: 20 minutes for £2.99 (15 pence per minute)
• 3 days to use: 40 minutes for £4.49 (11 pence per minute)
• 5 days to use: 80 minutes for £7.49 (9 pence per minute)
• 7 days to use: 250 minutes for £18.99 (8 pence per minute)
• 30 days to use: 500 minutes for £36.99 (7 pence per minute)

Adverts and referrals

• You can generally watch 3 adverts per day, each advert gives you 3 minutes ride time. If you refer a friend, you can each get 20 minutes free.

Cycle2Work

• There are two options for Forest on the Cycle2Work scheme (your workplace typically chooses the options offered to employees). Based on the variety of options, and the salary sacrifice tax implications, I have opted to link this.
• I pay roughly £31 per month to get 1,800 minutes of use on Forest e-bikes each month. I was paying about £80 a month on public transport, so this has been a great money saver for me.

Best for: The individual who wants a great value Cycle2Work Scheme who does not have Santander Cycles close, and who rides for 1 hour or more at a time.

TFL (Known as Santander Cycles): 2,000 e-bikes – 10,000 standard bikes (All docked).

Standard cost

• Non E-Bike: £1.65 per 30 minutes
• E-Bike: £3 per 30 minutes

Day pass and subscriptions

• Day passes: Non E-Bikes – £3.50 for unlimited 60 minute rides (if you go over 60 minutes on a ride, you pay £1.65 per hour extra)
• E-Bikes – £3.50 for unlimited 60 minute rides, with a £1 fee per ride (if you go over 60 minutes on a ride, you pay £3 per hour extra)

 

• Monthly subscription: Non E-Bikes – £20 a month for unlimited 60 minute rides (if you go over 60 minutes on a ride, you pay £1.65 per hour extra)
• E-Bikes – £20 a month for unlimited 60 minute rides with a £1 fee per ride (if you go over 60 minutes on a ride, you pay £3 per hour extra)

 

• Annual subscription: Non E-Bikes – £120 a year for unlimited 60 minute rides (if you go over 60 minutes on a ride, you pay £1.65 per hour extra)
• E-Bikes – £20 a month for unlimited 60 minute rides with a £1 fee per ride (if you go over 60 minutes on a ride, you pay £3 per hour extra)

Cycle2Work

There are various options for Santander Cycles on the Cycle2Work scheme (your workplace typically chooses the options offered to employees). Based on the variety of options, and the salary sacrifice tax implications, I have opted to link this.

Best for: The individual who can easily get to a docking station and cycles for less than 60 minutes at a time.

Voi: 500 – 2,000 e-bikes – Voi are the only other company to also offer e-scooters, but I could not find an estimate on how many there may be.

Standard cost

• E-Bike and E-Scooter cost: Free to unlock then 20 pence per minute

Subscriptions (For E-Scooters and E-Bikes)

• Monthly 300: £24.99 for 300 minutes (8.33 pence per minute)
• Monthly 750: £24.99 for 750 minutes (8 pence per minute)

Minute Bundles

• 24 hours to use: 30 minutes for £2.99 (10 pence per minute)
• 3 days to use: 60 minutes for £5.99 (9.99 pence per minute)
• 7 days to use: 120 minutes for £10.99 (9.16 pence per minute)

Referrals

• You can refer your friend who will get £2.50 credit, once they go on their first paid trip you will get £5 credit.

Cycle2Work

• There are oh so many options for Voi depending on the city you are in on the Cycle2Work scheme (your workplace typically chooses the options offered to employees). Based on the variety of options, and the salary sacrifice tax implications, I have opted to link this.

Best for: The individual who wants to ride E-Scooters and E-Bikes at a cheaper rate than Lime/Forest which can be achieved on pay as you go options.

Honourable mentions: You cannot find these options laying around on the street, but they make up a part of London’s micromobility economy.

Brompton have over 80 lockers, usually of 8 hire bikes, that’s 640 bikes across London! They are not electric, however, they are one of the cheapest options, costing just £5 a day. If you like the idea of a Brompton and want to test ride one, or you do not have to travel too far and want to missed the busy public transport these are a brilliant option, just do not let it out of your site as you must not leave it unattended.

Swapfiets is a bicycle rental scheme where you keep the bike in your possession, and pay a monthly fee. Most defects are covered, and you will either get a swap (clever, ey?), or they will fix the bike and you will be on your way. Their standard models are as cheap as £15.90 each month, or it is as much as £89.90 for an e-bike. The only hang-up here, is that their stores where their engineers are based in Shoreditch and Waterloo, if you’re not close and have a burst tyre, it’s going to be difficult to get it there…

Everybody Hates Lime…

A lot of people love Lime, but I am using this as an opportunity to be a bit tongue in cheek. All you have to do is search Lime Bikes London into Google and you will see article after article, some new, some old, from the perspectives of both individuals, and councils raising their concerns around Lime e-bikes and e-scooters. This is not just a Lime issue, but as they own the biggest e-bike and e-scooter fleets, they are often the ones targetted, just how many people refer to a vacuum cleaner as a Hoover.

Many of the complaints are about parking, see this BBC article where individuals are claiming that Lime bikes are making their life impossible to live, or that maintenance vans are disruptive. I can fully empathise with all of these commentators,  however, I love fleet bikes and scooters for the convenience they offer.

But it’s not all bad!

£10 a day is what I was spending on public transport, and I am about to get real with you here, having episodes of panic on buses & trains each day I commuted. I love being in the office, I love getting out, but I struggle where I am in tight spaces and cannot leave. Jumping on a Forest bike for the equivalent of less than £4 per day for a two way commute (thank you Cycle2Work Scheme) is just my ‘speed’.

There are also safety concerns. Whilst all of the fleet bike brands are in line with regulations, many people mention inexperienced, or unsafe riders causing issues. There is also the fact that despite e-scooters specifically only being legal to use by those with a valid driving licence, you do not have to wear a helmet, which could be very dangerous. All in all, it seems that there are things being done to fix these issues such as new dedicated parking bays for bikes, although it goes without saying that you cannot please everyone, as car users likely do not want ‘their’ bays being repurposed.

Safety Concerns

As much as I love to see the ‘little man’ succeed I also need to be frank, many users of Lime, and other fleet bikes do not wear reflective clothing or helmets. It’s fair to say that other cyclists don’t either, but this article is about fleet bikes. When I am riding a Forest bike on the way to work I wear a helmet, but I am leaving my home knowing that I am going to be cycling from South-West to Central London, and that my journey will be for over an hour.

I would hazard a guess that it’s those quick trips where people were planning to get a bus but decided not to when they saw people pressed up against the glass that people are not using helmets. I guess that Lime could chain a helmet to each bike or scooter, but that could have it’s own safety issues, so asides from creating a new helmet that folds down to be pocket sized, which I don’t think is realistic, I am unsure exactly what can be done. TFL’s own fleet has the exact same issue.

What is Next for Lime?

The future looks bright for Lime in London! Whilst they have amassed criticism from the masses, they have responded by working with the city in order to fix these issues. It is important to note that with each new technology or scheme you will find hundreds of news articles highlighting the risks and issues with said company, and Lime Bikes are no different. Personally, I have seen these bikes encourage city folk to become more active, and spend commuting time away from congested roads, buses, trains and tubes.

I would like to see Lime, and all of the other companies in this space continue to be responsible for infrastructure changes, and to make sure that their user base is as safe as possible. I think that rather than ask for such companies to be shut down, we should always be opting for positive changes to be made within the areas they serve. With continued cost strain on TFL, and environmental expectations on the UK government, I feel that fleet bike and scooter schemes are here to stay.