Lime is rolling out a Cycle to Work scheme that allows employees to pay for an annual e-bike subscription through salary sacrifice, reducing costs by up to 47 per cent.
The reduction depends on the rider’s tax band, with basic-rate taxpayers paying £38.10 a month and higher-rate taxpayers paying £30.69 a month for the subscription.
Additional-rate taxpayers will pay just £28.05 a month, down from the standard price of £52.92, equivalent to £635 per year before tax savings are applied.
The subscription includes 500 minutes of riding each month and will be available across Lime’s UK operations, covering London, Milton Keynes, Oxford, the West Midlands and Nottingham.
Alice Pleasant, Lime’s UK deputy head of region for government relations, said the scheme reflects how riders are already using the bikes as part of broader commuting patterns.
“People use our bikes alongside other transport, not instead of it,” Pleasant told City AM, adding: “It’s about choice and inter-connectivity.”
The move marks a departure from the traditional Cycle to Work model, which has historically helped employees purchase their own bikes rather than access rental services.
Peter Dando, senior director of employee benefits and recognition at BHN Extras, said his company had seen a rise in employers and workers requesting bike rental as part of their benefits package over the past year.
Dando noted that getting to work was a “significant, daily, frequent” expense for many employees, and said: “If there is a more economical way of doing that, I think a lot of people will see the benefit.”
The Cycle to Work launch builds on Lime’s broader push into subscriptions, including its Limeprime product, which charges London subscribers £6.99 a month and £1.70 for journeys of up to 20 minutes, just below the capital’s £1.75 bus fare.
Lime’s pay-as-you-go rates also increased, with the London per-minute charge rising from 29p to 31p, taking a standard 20-minute ride to £6.20, while its 30-minute bundle climbed from £3.99 to £4.49.
Pleasant rejected the idea that Lime was seeking to replace other public transport options, saying: “Transport is about ease of access, right, and choice. It’s important to have lots of different pricing options.”
An Opinium survey of 1,000 Londoners commissioned by Lime found 44 per cent wanted to cycle more, while only 27 per cent considered themselves a “cyclist.”
Lime’s own research found 76 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds surveyed viewed cycling as part of London’s identity, while 67 per cent said it made the capital more liveable.
Pleasant said demand for Lime bikes tends to spike during transport disruptions, adding: “From tube strikes to heatwaves, increasingly more and more people are looking to cycling as an option.”
BHN research found a third of UK employees were considering cycling for part of their commute, with 44 per cent saying access to an e-bike would encourage them to cycle more often.
Dando pointed out that cost is only one barrier to cycling uptake, with road safety and bike theft also cited as concerns, and suggested rental models could remove the hassle of ownership and storage.
Lime’s UK revenue jumped 75 per cent to £111.3m in 2024, reflecting the rapid shift in commuting habits that the company is now aiming to accelerate further.
The company’s expansion has attracted growing scrutiny over badly parked bikes, pressure from London councils, and rising competition from rivals including Forest and Voi.