London can become 'another Amsterdam' says Lime bike chief as he invests £20m in capital
London can become 'another Amsterdam' says Lime bike chief as he invests £20m in capital
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The chief executive of Lime has hit back at complaints about e-bikes being abandoned on pavements as he announced a £20m investment in London - and the hope that the capital will become “another Amsterdam”. Wayne Ting used an interview with The Standard to set out his vision for getting more people out of cars and onto bikes – in line with London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan’s transport strategy - as he revealed the “astonishing” popularity of rental e-bikes among young Londoners.
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According to new data from Lime, 49 per cent of Londoners aged 18-34 say they hire an e-bike at least once a week. Lime, which dominates the London market with between 30,000 and 40,000 bikes, reported an 85 per cent annual increase in journeys last year.
This included more than 16 million Lime journeys during commuting hours. Since the US-headquartered firm launched in London in 2018, four million people have ridden a Lime bike or scooter in the capital, it said on Thursday. At present, Lime operates in 17 of the 33 London boroughs but hopes to expand. Its £20m investment includes making £5m available to boroughs to create 2,500 more designated parking bays for e-bikes.
The sight of dockless bikes being abandoned on pavements or by the roadside is an ongoing issue for Lime and its London rival Forest, which has about 15,000 e-bikes. Lime says the pavement parking problems have been caused because the growth in demand for its bikes has not been matched by councils increasing the road space available for bike parking.
