Lime - #RideGreen 4+

Used when weather is not bad, a Lime pass for an hour’s ride costs only fractionally more than my morning commute to work.
The all is easy to use, if sometimes annoying when trying to sell a Lime product and can be slow to update with availability of bicycles when, for instance large crowds are leaving football matches and a bike is taken.
The good thing about this is that you don’t have to worry about locking your bike or if it will be stolen and as the bikes are well supported by the charge you can ride in normal work clothing (assuming the streets are not wet!)
The only sneakiness is the time it takes to sign off your ride… can be a minute as it is suddenly oh so slow to end your ride and even takes seconds off as you take a picture of your bike!
Have not used scooter as I don’t have a driving licence.

Review update
I have now cancelled my prime membership. Frequently bikes are not where they are located on the app or I will book a bike and go out of my way to get to it, only to find it’s missing a pedal or both pedals, making me late to work. Bikes no longer “ring”, it’s no longer possible to submit faults in bikes. Bikes are very dirty and often the seats are broken too. Lime bikes are not cheap- they are more expensive than the tube - the fleet should be cleaned and repaired by the charging team. It’s a real shame because they are obviously battling against some vandalism with pedals being removed etc. On a positive note it’s got me into biking so I will be buying a bike through my work’s cycle to work scheme instead.

Old review -
I’ve updated the app but it seems to be getting worse, today I booked a bike that had been parked outside my flat, but it was gone when I walked back for it (the booking still live on my app). No bikes “ring” anymore when I try to find them. I can no longer submit photos or report faults with bikes. The who charge the bikes also need to clean the baskets more frequently, often these are too dirty to put a bag in. The new very small parking spots around London bridge make it impossible to park there as reception is poor so the app will never recognise you as in the correct location to park.

If I had a penny for each time I am unable use your service because the app is refusing to work, I would be rich enough to buy the company and sort the technology problems myself. It is absolutely appalling.

Opening the app itself is difficult, and I find myself having to quit it or power my phone on and off just to get it to open (I believe this is no fault of my phone which is one of the newest models and other customers seem to have this issue too). The issues however do not stop there. Almost any action on the app makes it buffer and the amount of time wasted waiting for a single request on the app is extraordinary. Ending a ride can also be problematic as the app seems to sometimes just forget a ride is in progress and it just comes up with the map page. This has meant that I don’t think I have ever been able to use the app without some sort of problem occurring.

Overall, Lime bikes are a fantastic idea and I am all for ways of travelling with the less damage to the environment, but I think that improving the app should be a top priority. Until then, using them is often an unpleasant experience and potential business is lost.