For those wanting to experience Sydney in a different light, a ride on an electric Lime bike is a fun way to explore our beautiful city
Drinks, dinner, movies…Lime bike adventure. I have added that to my dating repertoire after an afternoon with my partner exploring Canada Bay on a Lime electric bike. We often walk along the beaches of Sydney, but given my partner has a few soccer injuries which make meandering difficult, an hour on an e-bike seemed like a great alternative.
The bright-hued Lime bikes have been in Sydney for three years, and their expansion is taking off around the suburbs. With various reactions, let’s be honest. Some complain about bikes strewn across footpaths and ‘littering’ streets. But it is fair to say that Lime has responded to these complaints and now has a fine-tuned approach to how the bikes are administered. There is strict ‘geofencing’ in each suburb which stops the bikes entering areas of high use, like parks and some beachside walkways. And newer areas like Manly have dedicated parking stations where a user must park to stop their timed use, otherwise they cannot end their ride.
I have written stories about Lime’s expansion into Manly on the Northern Beaches and was keen to try them out for myself. Lime offered me some extra time on a hire, so I set off with my partner one Saturday afternoon around Cabarita and Abbotsford, which edge on the picturesque Parramatta River.
Finding the bikes is easy enough, as you first download the Lime app which shows you the location and number of bikes in any suburb. It’s also how you pay (more on that below). We plotted a route from Cabarita to Abbotsford, wanting to ride as close to the water as possible. It’s a new location for Lime, so while there are fewer bikes, it does not have as much foot traffic as areas like Manly. It does mean the bikes are quite new, and I was pleased to see the tyres pumped up and with fully charged batteries. A maintenance team does the rounds regularly to ensure all is well with each vehicle.
Passing Sydney Swans coach Dean Cox walking his dog was a bit unexpected, but added to the novelty of the day. We allowed an hour for our trip, and followed the simple instructions which are written both on the bike and in the app once you start your route.
Starting the vehicle could not be more simple with a massive GO written near the throttle. It gives you a bit of a boost as the bikes are quite heavy and I was keen to do as little peddalling as possible. It does not quite work like that! You do need to pedal, but are boosted by the electric motor, so can travel a fair distance using less energy than on a normal ride.
I have done a lot of cycling on push bikes in my time, and I found the seat comfortable and pedals easy to use. It did not have great suspension, so I would just rise out of my seat when I had to go over a bump, which made the ride more comfortable.
We were able to travel quite close to the water for a lot of our 14km round trip, and when I tried to take short cuts through a park, the bike indicator would start flashing red and the motor would stop completely unless I moved out of the ‘red zone.’ So I had to manually push the bike out of a few areas, much to my partner’s amusement.
We had some fun racing each other to see how fast the bikes could go (I got to 30km/hr), but that was only downhill, I must admit!
In many areas of Sydney, Lime bikes offer an alternative to cars and public transport for short trips. I have seen them used by university residence students in Newtown to do their grocery shopping, as well as swimmers keen to get to the beach fast in Manly. At 62 cents a minute, the most economical option is to buy a bundle ($13.99 for an hour, $7.99 for 30 minutes). Frequent users on a subscription get the best rates, with LimePrime costing $4.99 a month, which gives you a five-minute ride for $1.50, and 20 minutes costs $2.75.
The company really does care about saving the planet, with Lime head of APAC Will Peters telling me: “Lime’s mission is to build a future where transportation is shared, affordable and carbon-free, and our ambition is to make that a reality for every part of Sydney.
“Expanding into Canada Bay is a natural extension of that mission. It means more residents have access to a convenient, low-cost and sustainable way to get around, whether that’s connecting to a train station or bus route, running local errands, or replacing a short car trip.
“We see demand for shared, affordable and sustainable transport right across Sydney, and Canada Bay is a great example of a community where Lime can help solve the ‘last-mile’ challenge and give people a genuine alternative to the car.”
My partner’s phone battery died mid-trip, and that is the only way you can end your ride. So he was charged extra for the time it took us to fuel his phone battery at the local chicken shop (shout out Chook & Co Concord!). I had emailed Lime about what to do and within 24-hours they kindly gave him some free minutes he can use at another time. Hopefully on another date with me, as we are keen to explore other parts of the city in a non-polluting, pleasant and fun way.
As we were parking the bikes on our return, a man walking his dog asked us how they worked and said he’d used them in other parts of the world like Amsterdam and San Francisco and was keen to try them. They certainly are popular with tourists, but locals are also using them to conquer the hills of Sydney and beat the buses stopped in traffic. Win-win for all.
With 24/7 customer support, Lime is known for its fast turnaround on complaints. They encourage members of the public to report bikes blocking footpaths to their Sydney-based team via support-au@li.me
