Lime has expanded London’s e-bike parking capacity by 40% since January, part of a wider plan to tackle overcrowding and meet the city’s growing appetite for cycling.
The shared mobility operator has helped fund more than 930 new e-bike parking bays in London so far this year, taking the overall number of Lime-funded bays in the capital to over 3,250.
The move is part of Lime’s London Action Plan, a £20 million initiative launched in January to expand parking, strengthen operations and improve rider experience.
Hal Stevenson, Lime’s Director of Policy for UK and Ireland, told Zag Daily the latest progress report shows the operator is “actively investing in London’s future”. He pointed to a 59% reduction in overcrowding as evidence that Lime is tackling “one of the biggest growing pains” created by rising cycling demand.
Lime has also introduced new measures to influence rider behaviour. These include live feedback powered by machine learning to help prevent misparking, and a new in-app incentive feature that offers riders free minutes if they start a ride on a misparked e-bike or in an overcrowded bay.
To build on the progress, Lime is now inviting London businesses to convert under-used outdoor space into e-bike parking, with the operator covering all implementation and maintenance costs.
The announcement comes against a backdrop of rapidly rising cycling levels. Transport for London recorded 1.33 million daily cycle journeys in 2024, while the City of London Corporation recently reported that cycling trips in the borough now outnumber car trips. Shared e-bikes have been a significant contributor to this growth, with trips quadrupling since 2022.
A Lime survey from earlier this year found that one in three Londoners have commuted by rental e-bike, a figure rising to 81% among Gen Z. A further 23% of Londoners said they wanted to cycle more often in 2025.
The Mayor of London has set targets to create 40,000 new cycle parking spaces and increase daily cycling trips by a third by 2030, compared to 2022. Lime’s investment aligns with this agenda, though today’s update highlights the operator’s strategy to directly address the bottleneck of bike parking.
Wayne Ting, CEO of Lime, said: “We’ve been on an amazing journey with London over the past seven years, and we’re only scratching the surface of its potential as a top-tier city for cycling. Part of that journey is tackling growing pains as they arise, which is why we’re glad to share progress in that effort today.”
By making it cost-free for businesses to provide parking, Ting said Lime hopes to expand options for commuters and visitors while supporting London’s wider shift to active travel.
