Street Bikes – are we getting a comfortable ride?

They seem to have appeared almost from nowhere! Just where have all these bikes parked along our streets come from?

• Dockless bikes run predominantly under the Lime label (a company now owned by Uber) seem to be everywhere in our local streets. And it’s not just in Lewisham borough (who have signed a trial deal with Uber). 15 of the 32 boroughs in London have already signed similar contracts and it may not be long before they can be found throughout London.
• There are now more Lime Bikes in the capital than “Boris” bikes and Uber are expanding into other UK cities (recently Derby, Nottingham and Milton Keynes) and throughout mainland Europe.
• The bikes cost £1 to unlock and you are then charged 12p per minute. The average Lime bike journey in London costs around £4.
• Lime bikes employ 250 London staff from a depot close to Millwall football stadium and run 20 vans. Numbers of employees, vans and bikes is expected to grow exponentially in the coming months.
• The average age of a Lime Bike rider is 33 (20 per cent of users have never used a hire bike before).

Are Street Bikes more bother than they’re worth?

Many people regard schemes where bikes can be left almost anywhere as a nuisance that simply shouldn’t be allowed. Hire bikes are often left blocking up pavements, thrown onto their sides or are simply chucked into bushes and over walls. They also complain that bikes are stolen or “hacked” so that anyone misusing the system cannot be held to account.

To combat this, Lime is rapidly replacing their fleet with new Jump bikes which they claim cannot be stolen and which have greater space for carrying shopping (see below).

How dockless bikes work

Dockless bikes do not use docking stations. This means bikes can be picked up and parked anywhere (with certain exclusions – for example, because of safety).

Dockless bikes have GPS tracking so users and operators can find them. They also have electric drive to help you cycle uphill, and other features like LED headlights.

You must register with an operator online or through an app before renting a bike. Each operator has different pricing, usually based on how long a bike is rented. Some operators offer pricing incentives.

As there are no docking stations, operators manage their bikes out on the streets – for example, by collecting bikes for maintenance like battery swaps, or by moving bikes to different areas.