Lime scooters back on Auckland's streets, Council lifts ban

Lime scooters will be back on streets from tomorrow - but with tougher safety and reporting conditions imposed by Auckland Council.

Council chief operating officer Dean Kimpton said the suspension is being lifted on the basis the company will operate within new guidelines set by council.

Lime will be required to report "serious safety incidents" anywhere in the world to officials within 48 hours.

Every scooter will also have to undergo a mechanical inspection at least once a week.

Kimpton said he expected scooters would be back on the streets from tomorrow.

"They are committed to improving how they are working with us," he said.

Two updates had been implemented into the scooters' software since their operating licence in Auckland was suspended.

Lime had assured the council these updates would prevent the glitch that had caused the scooters' wheels to lock up.

Lime had verbally agreed to the new conditions set by council, but was expected to provide an official written response later today, Kimpton said.

The council told Lime it was not good enough that they had learnt about serious incidents via media, not from the company.

"We expect to be told when these issues occur," Kimpton said.

The renewed trial period allowing Lime scooters back on the streets will run until March 31.

Auckland Council had placed a temporary ban on the e-scooters last week amid growing safety concerns after a number of people were injured while using them.

Dunedin, where Lime scooters were also operating, quickly followed suit.

Dunedin City Council was also expected to make an announcement on the future of Lime.

Since the scooters were introduced in Auckland last October there had been reports of a raft of accidents and injuries from both riders and pedestrians with one man suffering a broken jaw and another woman fracturing her neck and losing a tooth.

The council received a full report and information from Lime yesterday.

The decision would come exactly one week after Auckland Council suspended Lime's licence to operate in the city, following a number of incidents in which people were injured when the front wheel of the scooter they were riding unexpectedly locked.

The wheel-locking malfunction led to 155 reported incidents - 92 of which were in Auckland, and of those 30 resulted in injury, Lime said.

Lime e-scooters launched in Auckland in October and soon spread to other cities. Photo / Greg Bowker

Around 2000 e-scooters are now being stored in at Lime's Kingsland warehouse - 1000 allowed under its trial licence and another 1000 it was holding in reserve in case the scope of its trial was expanded before its expiry on March 31.

On Friday, Lime said it had pushed out a firmware upgrade that had addressed the wheel locking bug, and that there had since been no incidents. It also said the 155 incidents represent a tiny fraction of the 1.8 million Lime rides in NZ so far.

However, it apologised to New Zealanders and said it would work hard to regain their trust

The Dunedin City Council received a report from Lime yesterday but was waiting until the Auckland Council makes its decision before following its lead.

Dunedin council community services general manager Simon Pickford said "on the face of it, from a technical point of view", the issue seemed to have been fixed.

Asked if he expected the scooters to be back on the streets today, Pickford said the report was a positive step.

"I think Lime are all ready to go. Obviously if they get the sign-off tomorrow they could be back on the streets tomorrow or over the weekend."

Meanwhile, in Christchurch, the Lime e-scooter fleet in Christchurch was set to expand by 300 to 1000 after a decision reached at a city council meeting yesterday.

- Additional reporting by Otago Daily Times