Lime’s back as new Auckland e-mobility licences issued

Rental e-scooter, e-bike and bike operators have new licences to operate in Auckland from September 4.

All are out of action while Auckland is in COVID-19 alert level 3 and will remain off the streets until advice from the Government changes, but the Auckland Council and Auckland Transport have already reviewed applications for the new rental licence period.

Aucklanders have more travel options with 900 rental e-bikes and 50 bikes licenced alongside 2490 e-scooters for up to a year.

Lime is back, operating Jump’s e-bike (500) and e-scooter (830) fleets on a six-month licence, while Flamingo is unsuccessful this time around.

Beam (730 e-scooters) and Neuron (930) both get a 12-month licence with Beam also able to run 400 e-bikes for a year too.

Nextbike continues a docked service near Auckland’s Viaduct and will add dockless rentals in the city centre under a six-month licence for 50 bikes.

“Last round Lime wasn’t successful, but they have gone away and put a lot of work into preparing a stronger application that meets our criteria,” Auckland Council regulatory services director Craig Hobbs says.

He says the period operators are licenced for takes previous performance into consideration.

“On that basis we are inviting them back to operate in Auckland for six months during which time their performance will be closely monitored,” he says of Lime.

“As we have seen with previous licence rounds there are no guarantees any applicant will be successful.

“This is reflected in the robust process of checks and balances we have in place to make sure we’re choosing the strongest applications each time.”

AT chief executive Shane Ellison says Aucklanders are increasingly getting more access to a range of innovative transport options across the city.

“E-bikes, along with e-scooters, are another great transport option for Aucklanders looking to navigate our more than 7450kms of roads, 7130kms of footpaths and 325kms of cycleways,” he says.

“These new e-bike licences are exciting because it means Aucklanders will continue to have more options for active modes of travel alongside walking and cycling.”

New measures to increase safety for riders and pedestrians, including lockable helmets with e-scooters, are proposed by the operators.

This licence round marks almost two years since e-scooters first arrived in Auckland.

The council and AT have decided to allocate the same number of operators and a similar number of e-scooters to the current licence period (June-September 2020).

The latest version (V5) of the rental e-scooter Code of Practice also comes into effect on September 4.

Beam Auckland operations manager Frederick Conquer says it will add the Beam Apollo, provide treated helmets, virtual docking, help with retail recovery under Operation Booster, ensure Code of Practice compliance, and more.