Lime’s Auckland ban lifted

Lime has been given the green light for its e-scooters to return to Auckland streets.

Auckland Council announced at a media briefing yesterday that it had lifted Lime’s operating licence suspension.

Auckland and Dunedin councils suspended Lime’s operating licence last Friday because of a software glitch in their e-scooter fleet that caused sudden and unexpected braking mid-ride.

The council’s chief operating officer, Dean Kimpton, said that e-scooters were expected back on Auckland streets today.

The lifting of the ban was contingent on Lime agreeing to the conditions it had already verbally agreed to, he said.

Conditions included Lime notifying the council and Auckland Transport ‘‘at most’’ 24 hours after any significant instances with injuries involving its e-scooters.

Lime was also required to inform the council and AT of any safety issues in other markets, such as other parts of New Zealand and offshore.

The e-scooters must also be mechanically inspected every week, he said.

Dunedin City Council staff had also met with Lime yesterday and had verbally agreed to having similar conditions apply in Dunedin.

‘‘Once we have written confirmation that they agree to these conditions, Lime scooters will be back on Dunedin streets,’’ the council’s general manager of community services, Simon Pickford, said.

He was critical of how Lime had handled the fallout of the glitch.

‘‘I’ve spoken directly with Lime regarding our disappointment that these safety issues came to our attention through the media and expressed our concern that it was not good enough,’’ Kimpton said.

He expected Lime to inform council and AT of any issues.

Lime’s figures showed the glitch caused 155 ‘‘irregular braking incidents’’ across the country, resulting in 30 injuries – 19 of which were in Auckland.

Several Auckland riders reported broken bones and smashed faces over summer.

Since the suspension, 1000 LimeS electric scooters had been gathering dust in Lime’s Auckland depots.

The California-based company said last Saturday it had fixed the bug that caused the glitch, and the machines had been ‘‘triple checked’’ for safety.

Mitchell Price, Lime’s director of government affairs and strategy, said the malfunction only affected less than a fraction of a per cent of all Lime trips in New Zealand – just 0.0086 per cent.

‘‘But we also know that each trip is not really a number – it’s a rider and a member of the community – so any case is one too many.’’