SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (September 21, 2023) — Lime announced today that riders made this summer Lime’s best ever in Salt Lake City, setting ridership records nearly every month and even surpassing comparable months from pre-pandemic years. Salt Lake City riders blazed right through the 2 million rides milestone and are currently at 2.25 million total rides, making up 80% of total rides at points in the summer. Lime attributes this success to the fact that the city is booming and more people are looking for sustainable transportation options and the city being a willing partner, helping Lime adjust its service to meet growing demand.
Lime also noted the investments it made in its local program, most notably its Gen4 e-scooter models which riders embraced immediately. Finally, Lime credited the city itself and the investments it has made in transportation infrastructure like bike lanes and bike parking, which are always the best thing a city can do to encourage residents and visitors to travel on two wheels. Lime was able to become the leader in the city’s micromobility program through its investments in hardware and its focus on local operations, leading to Lime capturing 80% share of total rides. Lime looks forward to continuing to work with the city to build the sustainable transportation future it deserves as well as support local businesses by making it easy, safe, and fun to get around.
“Salt Lake City has experienced some of the highest relative rates of growth in population and economic activity than almost anywhere in the country. More people and more economic activity mean more demand for safe, affordable, and sustainable transportation options, and Lime is proud to be the e-scooter operator of choice for Salt Lake City residents and visitors which we can see in our 80% share of total rides. Ridership is booming because of the partnership we have with the city and the investments we’ve made to encourage people to ride green, which allow us to meet the growing transportation needs of a growing city. We look forward to working with the city to build on this success and keep moving forward as we work to meet the city’s transportation and climate goals,” said Rick Crossley, Operations Manager at Lime.
Since Lime launched in Salt Lake City in July 2018, 570,000 unique riders have taken 2.25 million rides and traveled 2.5 million miles. Lime riders have kept an estimated 525,000 car trips off the road, saving an estimated 248 metric tons of carbon emissions and 28,000 gallons of gas. Lime is proud to report that Salt Lake area residents have also been taking advantage of its Lime Access program, which offers discounts to people who receive government assistance. Over 600 Lime Access riders have taken nearly 10,000 trips, representing an estimated $40,000 in savings for people most in need.
Lime Ridership in Data
- Lime riders from May through August in 2023 took 340,000 rides compared to 217,000 during the same months in 2022, an increase of 57%
- Lime riders in the first half of 2023 took 273,000 rides compared to 158,000 during the same time period in 2022, an increase of 73%
- The largest year over year increase in one month was July 2023 with 116,000 trips compared to 59,000 in July 2022, an increase of 97%
- Lime reached 80% of total rides in August 2023
- Lime launched its industry leading Gen4 vehicles in March and April, which immediately became the gold standard for riders in the Wasatch Front
- Lime is proud of our Equity Deployment on the West Side of town and we are consistently above the program goals set out by SLC.
- Lime Access ridership has been increasing consistently to 1,520 rides in August 2023.
- Lime has worked with HEAL Utah and set up outreach at events like the Latino Conservation week swap meet the last two years with a booth to sign people up for the program as well as handing out helmets
Record Growth: Lime as the Global Leader in Micromobility
Lime, the world’s largest shared electric vehicle company, today unveiled new financial and ridership figures from the first half of 2023 that demonstrate demand for shared e-bikes and e-scooters continues to grow around the world. In the first half of the year, Lime achieved more than $250 million in gross bookings, a 45% increase over the same period in 2022. Lime also achieved positive Adjusted EBITDA of $27 million during this period, the first time it has reached this milestone in the first half of any year to date, with a margin improvement of 29 percentage points. Lime also achieved positive EBITDA on an unadjusted basis during this period. The H1 results highlight Lime’s continued momentum following a 2022 in which it achieved positive Adjusted EBITDA over the full year.
“Coming off a record year for Lime, we are proud to have achieved an acceleration in our strong performance in 2023” said Wayne Ting, CEO of Lime. “Riders around the world are demonstrating strong demand for low-cost, reliable and emissions-free transportation. We are encouraged that cities also recognize this as they continue to welcome and expand e-bike and e-scooter programs globally. Our year-over-year revenue growth and ability to operate profitably are strong signals for the long-term viability of Lime’s business. This record first half is a strong endorsement of our investments in in-house hardware design, operational excellence and cultivating strong relationships with cities.”
Lime is off to the best start of any year in its history. The company’s growth in 2023 is powered by its highest ever ridership in a single quarter, with more than 40 million trips taken globally in Q2 alone, besting its previous record quarter of Q3 in 2022. This record ridership stems from Lime’s growth within existing markets and into new markets, leading to higher average trips-per-vehicle-per-day and improved supply and reliability for riders. Lime now has the leading e-scooter market share across the United States and Europe.
How did Lime get here?
Lime’s continued success relies upon investments in three core areas over the past several years, leading to widely differentiated outcomes from its competitors:
- Hardware innovation
- Tech-enabled operations
- Winning competitive tenders
