Edinburgh council in talks with Lime and Dott about reintroducing e-bike hire scheme to city

Edinburgh could see a shared bike hire scheme reinstated across the city after the popular Just Eat bikes were disbanded in September 2021.

The council is now in talks with several hire companies but the frontrunners are understood to be Lime, the world’s largest micromobility company and fellow leading bike hire firm, Dott. Lime will meet with the council today (Wednesday November 8) to discuss the potential roll out of e-bikes, unveiling plans on what the scheme could look like and a demonstration of their bikes. Dott were in talks with the council earlier this week.

Alice Pleasant, public affairs manager at Lime, said: “Edinburgh is a fantastic historical city and we would love to bring our shared e-bike scheme here. It has ambitious active travel plans that we believe we can support. Lime is the world’s largest and most experienced micromobility company working over 280 cities worldwide.”

Lime are in talks with the City of Edinburgh Council this week to discuss a new shared e-bike hire scheme. Councillors were in talks with bike hire firm, Dott, earlier in the week.Transport and environment convener, Scott Arthur said he plans to bring a detailed report to council early next year

Similar to the Just Eat bikes, users can locate and return bikes using the Lime app - however in contrast to the previous scheme, Lime incorporates virtual docking stations, where riders must return bikes to a designated area to avoid street clutter. If bikes are left out with the parking bay, the customer will continue to be charged or fined. Ms Pleasant said this model means there is ‘minimal infrastructure’ and all parking areas would be ‘agreed and designated with the council with consultation from wider stakeholders’.

Lime say they are the only micromobility company to have a financially profitable year and have a track record of producing effective results, citing that between January 2019 and May 2023, their London scheme saw over 12 million rides from 1.25 million users - preventing over a million motor journeys.

The popular Just Eat cycles scheme attracted over 70,000 users - but following increasing incidents of theft and vandalism to bikes and docking stations, the scheme came to a halt in September 2021 when public services giant Serco said it would be financially unviable to extend the contract.

Plans to implement a new bike hire scheme looked uncertain last year following significant council budget cuts that meant spending an estimated £20m on a new scheme would be unlikely. But both proposals from Lime and Dott will be self-financed meaning no council subsidy or cost to the taxpayer.

Lime's Gen4 E‑Bike allows users to travel up to 15mph, with technology in place that disables pedal assist when entering more densely populated areas, reducing speed to approximately 8mph

Cllr Scott Arthur, transport and environment convener, said: “The public would rightly have concerns if we tried to repeat what we had before. But what both Lime and Dott are offering is a scheme where a lot of the risk is transferred from tax payers onto them. We will work with them as partners to decide where parking areas will be but they will run the operation of the scheme within the objectives set by the council.”

He added thatC the aim is to bring a report to the transport and environment committee early next year that outlines the ‘shape of the scheme’ and begin the procurement process, with a roll out of a new hire scheme expected in 2025.

Virtual docking stations have sparked concerns by some who say parked bikes will cause unwanted street clutter on city pavements. But the transport convener said a new bike hire scheme will prioritise pedestrians, with plans to keep cycle parking pays away from footpaths, with the possibility of using land owned by council partners for docking stations and additional locations added to existing car parking bays. He added unlike the previous scheme, parking areas will be situated across a greater area of the city so more residents feel the e-bike scheme ‘belongs to them’.