The United States-based e-scooter company has been operating in Christchurch and Auckland since October and is now looking to expand into other New Zealand cities, including Dunedin.
Lime city launcher Matt McNeill confirmed the company planned to launch in Dunedin but he could not confirm when.
When it first approached the Dunedin City Council, the company said it hoped to be in the city by Christmas, but Mr McNeill said it could be anywhere from a few weeks to few months away from launching.
Dunedin’s compactness, large student population and investment in large projects such as the Steamer Basin redevelopment made the city an attractive place to set up, he said.
In the six weeks the service has been available in Auckland and Christchurch the scooters have been taken on
more than 500,000 trips by 150,000 different riders, according to figures released by the company.
There have also been nearly 300 ACC claims for injuries caused by electric scooters since the service arrived in New Zealand.
Safety remained the company’s top priority and it would continue to educate riders on best riding practices, Mr McNeill said.
"It’s not good to see people getting hurt but when you look at 500,000 trips we’ve just clicked over in a month we’ve got a 0.05% ratio of trips to accidents."
Rider education and greater information about how the scooters could be used safely was part of the company’s expansion plan, he said.
The e-scooters have also been criticised by some members of the public who have reported incidents ranging from pedestrians being hit, scooters being left in dangerous places and multiple people trying to ride one scooter.
"Obviously we would like to bring it into cities like Dunedin as soon as we can and we’ve ironed out what we need to and it’s just a matter of making ourselves as ready as possible."
— Additional reporting NZME
