MICROMOBILITY
CAN SHARED E-SCOOTER SCHEMES BE A LONG-TERM SUCCESS?
A lot has changed within micromobility in the past few months, begging the question of what needs to happen for the industry to look more profitable. Rebecca Morley investigates
D
ott and Tier merging. Bird filing for bankruptcy. Superpedestrian shutting its US operations. The last few months have been eventful for the shared
e-scooter industry - so what is the current state of play? Scratching the surface
Lime had a record year in 2022, becoming the first micromobility company to post a full profitable year. This followed a record $466 million in gross bookings in 2022, which was a 33% increase from 2021, and hit adjusted EBITDA of $15 million. Speaking to BikeBiz, a Lime spokesperson said over the past two years, the company has drilled down on improving its unit economics, rebuilding both its vehicles and its operational systems from the ground up. Beyond that, they said it comes down to three key areas: software-enabled operations to unlock productivity and improve service reliability, in-house hardware design to
34 | March 2024
provide a differentiated rider experience, and industry-leading government relations to add resilience and predictability to business. On the industry in general, Lime believes that it can be profitable, and the company is proving that by building on its financial record each year, with continuously improving margins and strong growth. “We also believe we’re just scratching the surface,” Lime’s
spokesperson said. “With cities eager to move away from high- polluting, congestion-causing cars, and younger generations less interested in driving, we believe the uptake of e-bikes and e-scooters will only continue to grow and Lime is well-placed to fit this need.” In the UK, shared schemes are still the only way to legally ride e-scooters on public roads as privately-owned vehicles are yet to be legalised. Rental trials began in 2020 with the end date recently extended for the fourth time to May 2026, which the Government said will enable it to “build on
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