Jump rental bikes are returning to the streets of London under new owners Lime

Jump's bright red bikes are returning to the streets of London, following Lime's acquisition of the service from Uber.

The Jump bikes have had something of a rocky ride so far. Having deployed to many cities around Europe and the US, they were then pulled, with a large number heading straight for the scrapheap and Jump employees finding themselves without a job.

With Lime now in control of the company, bikes are returning to London, as well as Paris, Rome and Barcelona.  

The Jump bikes will be accessible through the Uber app - Uber being the previous owner of the service - initially, before moving over to the Lime app once both systems are integrated. It's said that there will be around 100 bikes on the street and the fleet will change size to meet demand.

The pricing will be £1 to unlock the bike, and 15p per minute thereafter.

Lime reports that it has seen a jump in demand - pardon the pun - since lockdown eased, as Londoners are advised to seek alternative forms of transport and avoid buses and tubes.

For London, we suspect this is a first step in also getting electric scooters in place since the UK starts electric scooter trials start in July 2020 too, something we know is firmly in Lime's plans for London.

"As the world's largest micromobility provider we already operate successful e-scooter and e-bike rental services in more than 125 cities - including London - so we know the value they bring and we're excited to be able to offer this experience in the UK," said Alan Clark, director of UK policy and government affairs at Lime recently, following the announcement that e-scooter trials were starting.

"Over the coming days, weeks and months as trials start, we're looking forward to building healthier, greener and safer cities across the UK."

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