Forum Topic

Lime fired

On the front page, Lime bikes have been fired and instead we shall see the introduction of Forest and Voi bikes ...Okay, but what happens if you Lime from London to Chiswick but there is nowhere to terminate your Lime ride and park the bike?I know that Lime is a bit of a mess but surely getting Lime to enforce their parking and improve their bike parking would be better than introducing yet another app and yet another bunch of eBikes to litter about the place?

Chris Blackwell ● 9d38 Comments

Here is the rules from the TfL Horse's mouthhttps://content.tfl.gov.uk/cycles-on-public-transport-map.pdf

Guy Lambert ● 1h

I believe that carrying a bike (fold up Brompton or normal bike) is discouraged during rush hour for obvious reasons but okay at other times.

Chris Blackwell ● 5h

possibly, I wouldn't know Andrew.

Janice Evans ● 6h

E-bikes are, quite rightly, banned from being taken on public transport due to the fire risk from high energy density lithium batteries.I would have thought that taking a fold up pedal powered bike on a bus wouldn’t be an issue if you can carry it on.

Andrew Jones ● 6h

I think they are used to finish a journey after using transport and always thought buses should carry bikes, possibly only fold ups that people could take with them rather than a hire bike.

Janice Evans ● 6h

Even now most companies don’t have showering facilities so cycling isn’t exactly encouraged.

Steve Taylor ● 1d

From what I've heard people often use them to finish a longer journey from bus stop or station to wherever the end of their journey is, as well as the obvious door to door.  So if there aren't enough it will change the use.The clicking bikes I know I've seen most recently have been used by youngsters to go from football pitch to football pitch looking for a free one.  A lot of parents nowadays are unable to chauffeur their children around as they are working and this wouldn't have happened in the past anyway!  I just wish the riders wore cycle helmets and not headphones, weren't looking at their phones while they rode, had both hands on the handlebars - and had passed Cycling Proficiency or whatever! Councils provide free lessons.  It would be good to see more girls cycling.  40 years ago I worked in offices which had people cycling in to work and which had showers - but it wasn't the women then.  You see more families cycling now.

Philippa Bond ● 1d

As I understand it Lime is a much larger company than Voi and Forest. When e-bike usage exploded in the borough it was able to respond with volume and bring enough bikes into the area to meet demand. My experience with them suggests that their focus was on quantity not quality perhaps due to pressure from high-ups to generate revenue quickly ahead of a possible listing. Perhaps Hounslow could have reduced the negative impact of the service's success by implementing the same policy as Wandsworth in which bikes causing obstruction were impounded with Lime having to pay to get them back.My concern here is that Voi and Forest won't necessarily offer a better service while at the same time not being able to provide sufficient machines to guarantee there will always be a bike available to hire when you need it. Lime habituated people to assume that they would be able to find a bike but just a couple of failed attempts with the new service means that customers will stop trying.

Mark Evans ● 3d

'm not an expert on any of this - just a ward councillor.As I understand it there is an attempt to organise a pan-London agreement which would have to come from the LGA and/or TfL, but sounds like herding cats.Council arrangements have to go through formal procurement.That happened and for whatever reason, Forest and Voi won. Lime lost. I don't know why but I have the impression it is service quality.

Guy Lambert ● 3d

How about a Voi to kewor Richmond? Can't bedone and as it showedon the map at the weekend 13bikes in the whole boroughof Ealing.Oh the Forest bike free10 mins. That is afteryou have paid £1 unlockingfee and a mandatory 90pa day service chargeand after 10 minsbecomes 29p a minif you don't buy a minsBundle. So don't becaught out if you canfind a forest bike oncethey have desperced frompoint AReguardless of what guysays I'm telling you nowthe new ones on the blockis flawed.Ps. Sorry about spacing, itsBeing done on my phone

Julian Pavey ● 4d

Well that's great if you are going from Chiswick to Hammersmith but how about cycling into town or to Barnes or Twickenham? As I mentioned, my boys' girlfriends often use Lime bikes to get to Chiswick and I often use Lime to go into town. If there is nowhere to park a Forest or Voi when you get to your destination or nowhere to park a Lime when you return the entire scheme is flawed. As with everything, there has to be a consistency and an ease-of-use if you want to encourage people to switch to a greener lifestyle.

Chris Blackwell ● 4d

As I said in my posting on 31/7 above Guy.I'll be in that area later today and will check to see if that batch has been dispersed.

Jim Lawes ● 4d

I think you'll be surprised. There are dozens of Forest bikes in Hammersmith all tidily lined up ( or they were on Sunday) outside Ravenscourt Park, on King Street.

Guy Lambert ● 4d

I think I can safely say that bike hire in Chiswickhas come to an end. I agree with Mark and yourgoing to struggle to finda voi or forest bike. Andif you do find one it's gojnggoing to be far away fromyou. And even then your restricted to where you can go.Think hounslow have madea mistake on that front.My daughter used them ifgetting to TGT late in theevening. I guaranteepeople will exit the tubesoon to zero bikes.

Julian Pavey ● 4d

In six days Lime bikes will be geofenced so you won't be able to park or hire them in the borough of Hounslow.The concern is that the two new operators don't have the financial clout of Lime and won't be able to deliver the number of bikes needed to the area. Love or loathe Lime, it has to be acknowledged that it has brought about an explosion in Bike hire usage. I took walk along the High Road at the weekend and easily over half of the non-delivery bikes I saw were Limes.

Mark Evans ● 4d

As of yesterday Masses of Lime bikes seen outside Riverside club nr Barnes bridge.Outside of Barnes bridge station another 20 plus then at junction of Hartington/A316/boat house  another 20 plus. Not seen that many before.

Paul Jennings ● 6d

It's very annoying. Our boys are 17 and 21, one has a girlfriend in Barnes and the other a girlfriend in Twickenham who often use Lime bikes to get to Chiswick. How are the girls supposed to do this when you can't leave your Lime bike in Chiswick? Same going the other way because you can't leave your Forext or Voi in either Twickenham or Barnes.

Chris Blackwell ● 6d

I understand Santander bikes are free on Sundays in August with a promotional code.

Philippa Bond ● 6d

Well, ive just checked the Voi live map in the AppIn the whole borough of Ealing in which they operate, I counted 13 electric bikes in total.Unless they flood the place with bikes, it won't work, and you have to have a good system in collecting and returning bikes from one borough to another to spread them out.And forest,well ive been reading about them from users and its all a bit shady and not telling you until you have done this or paid for this etc and parking problems.Forest has a free 10 min a day ride. But it will cost you £1.90p.

Julian Pavey ● 7d

Surely not - that would mean they had a huge competitive advantage over the providers the council has brought in to replace them?

Mark Evans ● 7d

Presumably they have no obligation to remove a bike left in the Borough then?

Mark Frost ● 7d

Last night we were treated to a comedian's travails with these bikes!

Philippa Bond ● 7d

Lime appeared in Hounslow (and across London) with no involvement from the council. There is no legal power for councils to stop them, though I think something is coming.When Lime arrived in Chiswick and Brentford (it didn't initially go much further) it was just on Lime's initiative and their assessment of where there was a market. Personally I was OK with it because it was a convenient option. For about 3 years they were here without any council involvement I had one solitary complaint from a resident in my ward.Later, the council decided it would be useful to have a relationship with providers and look to control them. There were discussions with Lime and other providers but only Lime were interested in working with Hounslow.The parking bays were implemented and that led to lots of complaints - mainly from people who lived near parking bays. We came to recognise the clicking and Lime said they had changed the bikes to eliminate hacking. They also changed the stands to (allegedly) be more stable. Neither really worked as far as I can see.Lime kept assuring the council that 95% were parked in the official bays. I never believed that.Recently they have gone out to the market looking for two providers to take the (very popular despite its drawbacks) service forward. Several providers bid for this - including Lime I believe - but other providers were selected to work with the council

Guy Lambert ● 7d

Thanks Julian for the tip about pre-paying for minutes. However, as I own a bike, I only would use a hire bike very occasionally so it wouldn't necessarily work for me.The issue with maintenance of Limes remains. I was with someone while they were hiring one and they notice only after booking it out, it had a pedal missing.This looks like an example of a company that grew too quickly and it deserves to have been dumped by Hounslow. The hope would be that the new companies can set much higher standards while offering better value for all users.

Francis Rowe ● 7d

Hope we don't see even more bikes left everywhere

Chris Smith ● 8d

It might save your life and what's not to like about learning how to be safe on the roads!And if you know youngsters now on holiday who could do with some please point them in the right direction!

Philippa Bond ● 8d

A lot of the incidence of misuse of Lime (and other hire bikes) lies with their popularity among the youth of the borough. As we know teenagers are not usually known for their ability to behave sensibly and responsibly and obey rules when there are no consequences for breaking them. They need to be educated on how to use hire bikes with due regard to others. I'm glad to see that supposedly the new hire-bike providers say they will be offering some instruction.Only the other day I was on my (own) bike slowly approaching the Grove Park railway crossing which was down, when a Lime bike shot straight out of a side-road forcing me into an emergency stop. Here's the thing - there wasn't one rider but two - one of whom  was actually sitting in the bike's basket. They were both teenage girls laughing their heads off, unable to control the heavy Lime bike, and oblivious to how near they had come to having a serious accident.They were obviously impervious to my silly old man lecture and clearly regarded the bike as some sort of toy.As to why Lime bikes are so often on their sides - I know from personal experience how easily they topple over when parked. I once managed  to effectan unstoppable cascade of  a row of about 12 of them by squeezing mine onto the end of a row. I do hope the other operators' bikes are better designed and maintained.

Bruce Hammal ● 8d

It is absolutely true that there are some people behaving in a anti-social and inconsiderate manner.  Bikes don't climb trees by themselves and the two I saw on their sides I very much suspect were pushed over deliberately.How can you be sure another operator will perform any better?  How can you be sure that any motorists will behave any better by not speeding by and not trying to race the traffic lights putting pedestrians and others at risk - or any illegal souped up and unlicensed ebikes?  I guess you just have to hope that they will realise that they are lucky to get to have a go at putting their bikes in the borough and could lose their contract just like Lime have done.There's lots of info on cycling in Hounslow and free lessons:https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/cyclinghttps://www.hounslow.gov.uk/transport-traffic/free-cycle-training/8

Philippa Bond ● 8d

Don't you live in Barnes, Steve?

Andrew Jones ● 8d

Posssibly a last roll of the dice for Cllr Katherine Dunne? She is no longer "Deputy Leader" as reported on the front page? She remains LBH's portfolio holder for Environment, Climate Change and Transport - for which she received a responsibility allowance of £22,472 in 2024/5 in addition to her allowance as a councillor (£12,730) Cllr Dunne attempts to pass all the blame for the poor performamce of the Lime Bikes scheme on to a "small minority are behaving in an anti-social and inconsiderate manner causing inconvenience and potential danger to Hounslow’s residents, visitors and businesses". She added that Lime had been asked to “redouble their efforts” to address unsafe use, but persistent complaints continued.It is not clear why Cllr Dunne believes that the new operators will perform any better.

Sam Hearn ● 8d

“ And you can't get a Forest bike in Chiswick to say Richmond, as they are not in Richmond. like Lime won't let you park”Ah yes, Hounslow Council is ensuring we become an Island of Strangers. Stammer will be happy.

Steve Taylor ● 8d

https://www.londoncentric.media/p/lime-bikes-keep-breaking-londoners

David Turner ● 8d

Let's hope the new bikes are better than the old ones. I'm still astonished that Lime weren't given the heave-ho on safety grounds alone. Certainly my mangled right shin bears witness to the problem. (Gory photograph available on request).https://www.private-eye.co.uk/eyeplayer/play/504

Bruce Hammal ● 8d

A fleet of the Forest e-bikes has now arrived in Hammersmith.About 30+ of them are parked today on King's Street ... opposite Ravenscourt Park.

Jim Lawes ● 8d

"It was an expensive service" Not if you purchased a Mins pass, which most regular users did. You get say from TGT to Grove Park in roughly 7 mins at a cost of around 55 pence, cheaper than a bus, and you get door to door

Julian Pavey ● 9d

"Lime riders won't be happy unless using it locally only." I meant forest. I hardly see a forest bike around, and Voi kind of turned up and disappeared. Possibly that's because they are not taking bikes back to all locations and are ending up in central London and staying in central london,who knows

Julian Pavey ● 9d

I presume it is like Voi and Forest currently, you'll have to deposit at the borough boundary.Lime had their chance. It was an expensive service an the bikes were often in poor condition. They failed to deal with the security issue with the clicking sound now replaced by beeping when teens ride them.

Francis Rowe ● 9d

You can't And you can't get a Forest bike in Chiswick to say Richmond, as they are not in Richmond. like Lime won't let you park in Chiswick once they are gone. It's all a bit of a mess, and many lime riders won't be happy unless using it locally only. Lime covered everywhere but the other 2 do not

Julian Pavey ● 9d