Lime has unveiled an extra £6.3 million for London bike hire infrastructure, taking its investment in capital in 2022 to £26 million. Quadrant Transport looks at how this will help London’s transport become more sustainable.
The initial investment of £20 million into London came in January 2022, as Lime opened its new warehouse and launched its latest Gen4.1 e-scooters and Gen4 e-bikes.
In addition to this, the funding has helped the company expand its physical footprint to include the boroughs of Hackney, Hammersmith, and Fulham.
Rides On E-scooters And E-bikes Have Increased In London
Lime has been focusing on growing its workforce by approximately 70 per cent, including the expansion of its patrol teams by 50 per cent to meet the extra on-street needs during the busy summer period.
Recent figures revealed have shown that Lime rides on e-scooters and e-bikes in London have increased by 117 per cent year-on-year from January to July 2022.
The business has also seen a 67 per cent increase in the number of people using Lime for the first time in London for the same period.
Wayne Ting, Chief Executive Officer of Lime said: “The investment marks our commitment to London and is a vote of confidence in the local government’s own investments into world-leading active and sustainable transport policies.
“It signals our support of the transformative steps taken by the Mayor and London Councils to encourage cycling and other sustainable transport modes over cars with high-quality infrastructure.”
It’s clear Londoners are looking for ways to get out of cars and onto shared and sustainable transport as a result of these changes, we believe we can be part of this solution as the city’s longest-serving operator.
People Need To Be Encouraged To Use Public Transport Over Their Cars
Getting people to leave their cars behind and travel using more sustainable transport options is crucial, as encouraging this more sustainable and active way to travel around the city is needed if the UK is to reach our net zero targets.
A recent rider survey found that 80 per cent of riders in London felt that Lime made them more likely to use public transport or less reliant on a car.
When asked about their last trip, a third (32 per cent) said that they used Lime for commuting, 21 per cent for socialising, and 12 per cent for shopping and errands.
Also, the survey found that Lime is used overwhelmingly by Londoners, with only 11 per cent responding that they were tourists.