Lime Bikes introduced a Delivery Pass that enabled Deliveroo cyclists to travel through London without the same speed restrictions as other people who hired the electric hire bike.
Leaked WhatsApp messages shared with the London Centric newsletter showed the company had created exemptions as part of an effort to attract delivery riders, who would normally use an illegally-modified electric motorbike, with unrestricted speeds. In contrast, ordinary Lime Bike users must navigate “go-slow” areas of the city, where the bike is capped at 8mph.
Areas of the city subject to the “go-slow” restriction include Camden High Street and several city parks where paths are often shared-use with pedestrians. St. James’ Park, Hyde Park and Regent’s Park are among the restricted parks, the latter of which has long courted attention for the speeds of ordinary cyclists. The Royal Parks charity imposed a 20mph speed limit for cyclists last year, following the death of a pedestrian after a collision with a cyclist in 2022.
> Regent’s Park to get new pedestrian crossings as part of crackdown on ‘dangerous’ cyclists
Lime Bikes hired with a Delivery Pass were however exempt from the 8mph speed limit and able to ride through the park at 15.5 mph, the e-bike’s top speed. In addition, the Delivery Pass enabled e-bike users to enter boroughs of the city where Lime does not have an agreement with the local council.
The Delivery Pass was introduced in April and offers a flat-fee for users based on the duration of the e-bike hire rather than the distance covered. E-bikes can be hired for five or 24 hours, as well as three or seven days. At the time of their release, Lime touted the Delivery Pass scheme as a “more reliable option” that “could also help to address the rise of unregulated, illegal e-bikes in London which are a growing concern across the city.
“Our e-bikes are fully compliant, speed-limited to 15 mph, and powered by UL-certified batteries. They’re designed with safety in mind, including battery management systems that monitor performance and detect potential issues. Every vehicle is regularly inspected and maintained to high standards.”
> Westminster MP meets with Lime to discuss “reckless” use of hire e-bikes on streets and pavements
However, the waived speed limit raises alarm that the bikes pose a safety risk for pedestrians by users not obeying the same speed limits and restrictions as other cyclists. Following London Centric’s reporting, Lime announced that the waived speed limits were only part of a trialled roll-out and that the “go slow” zones would be reinstated for delivery riders, though no timescale was given for when the reforms would be introduced, only that “That trial is ending and will not be part of our offering to delivery riders going forward.”
Separately, London Centric also reported the company trialled an ‘auto-pause’ feature enabling the hired e-bike to lock automatically when it detected the bike was stationary. However, the proposal was quickly scrapped when couriers reported the bikes were locking whilst they were being ridden on the road.
1 thought on “Lime U-turns after allowing delivery cyclists to exceed ‘go-slow’ speed limits in busy London parks and high streets”
On the plus side, if Lime bikes are genuinely EAPCs and this “selectable speed restriction” feature doesn’t simply add another way to override the 15.5mph upper limit…
… then this is still harm minimization compared to the completely unregulated e-motorbikes * which are otherwise frequently used by delivery riders.
It’s all moot since the police have use of illegal vehicles very close to the bottom of the priority list. But still above bike theft, and as we know driving on the footways is decriminalised.
* However there appears a modicum of regulation in practice in that the Suron class of thing appears to be too expensive / a theft risk for the average food delivery rider. I would guess those I see in use speeding about at 20mph++ are delivering far more profitable wares than fish and chips. And their riders less fussed about legal niceties.