Lime partners with what3words to better track mis-parked scooters

Lime hopes the partnership will allow its operations team to recover misparked bikes more quickly.

Bike and scooter operator Lime has partnered with the location mapping service what3words to help members of the public report mis-parked e-bikes and scooters more easily, which the operator says will result in even faster correction and pick-up times by the on-the-ground operations team.

The partnership will allow Lime users and members of the public to report the exact location of an incorrectly parked vehicle using what3words. By identifying the what3words address for the three metre square of the vehicle using the free app, members of the public can easily share the precise location with Lime’s customer services team using three simple words via email, allowing them to send operations teams directly to the location to retrieve the vehicle.

what3words divides the earth’s surface into 57 trillion 3 metre squares, with a unique three-word address assigned to each square. For example, ///pine.trail.pass is the what3words address of a precise 3 metre square in London’s Hyde Park. It is particularly useful when identifying locations that are not captured by conventional address systems, as can sometimes be the case with mis-parked or illegally vandalised e-bikes and scooters.

In addition to helping Lime to correct instances of mis-parking even faster, Lime says the partnership will also support it in reaching its “Ride Green” 2025 carbon negative target, ensuring its operations team avoid unnecessary mileage by pinpointing a vehicle’s exact location in towns and cities all over the world.

“Lime has invested in industry-leading safeguards to ensure the vast majority of our users park responsibly. However, we know shared schemes can sometimes create parking challenges, which is why we’re proud to be partnering with what3words to ensure any issues can be identified and rectified even faster, making sure our service really does deliver for everyone” said Florence Milner, Lime’s General Manager for UK and Ireland.

David Shakory, what3words’ Director Partnerships added: “We are very pleased that the leading micromobility provider Lime is working with what3words, using our innovative system to improve public order and to integrate e-bikes and e-scooters even better into the urban landscape. In future, anyone who discovers mis-parked e-scooters or e-bikes will be able to use a what3words address to provide simple and precise location information”

The partnership comes after what3words also teamed up with London taxi company Addison Lee. Riders using the Addison Lee app will now be able to use a what3words location for a pick-up or drop-off, which the taxi firm hopes will more accurate drop-offs and pick-ups for places that are particularly hard to navigate to using traditional directions.