E-scooter hire in London: Lime and Voi, the 11 boroughs, and where you can ride and park

London e-scooter hire: Lime, Voi and the TfL trial

Two companies, Lime and Voi, rent out e-scooters in London. They run them in Transport for London’s (TfL) rental trial, which TfL manages with London Councils and the boroughs taking part, under the Department for Transport’s national trials. London’s began on 7 June 2021; Dott, a third operator, left in April 2024.

A third phase began in September 2026, again with Lime and Voi, under contracts TfL signed on 24 July 2026 for up to two years, as far as national law allows; TfL may extend them by up to four years. TfL’s trial page still describes the second phase, and says the national trials that make hire e-scooters legal can run until 31 May 2028.

Since 24 October 2026 the map of London has shown Voi’s e-scooters: about 1,600 at 14:55 that Saturday, a snapshot, not the fleet size. It shows their positions and battery, not prices, zones or bays. Lime’s scooters aren’t on it, so use the Lime app for those. Lime, Voi and Forest also rent e-bikes in London, which the map doesn’t show.

TfL counted more than 4,000 hire e-scooters and about 1,900 parking bays in September 2026, in a trial area of about 300 km². From late June to September 2026 the two could run up to 5,350 scooters, a cap TfL, London Councils and the boroughs set.

Which London boroughs have rental e-scooters?

You can hire and ride a scooter in the 11 boroughs TfL lists, and nowhere else in London:

Islington, Hackney, Newham, Greenwich and the other boroughs aren’t taking part. A hire scooter is legal only inside the trial area, and a ride ends only in a bay inside it, so check the app’s map before you head for a borough boundary. Stratford, with the London Stadium and Westfield, is in Newham: walk or take the train from the last bay.

Heading out of London for the day? The map also shows Voi in Oxford and Cambridge, and e-scooter hire in the UK covers all 21 trial areas.

How much does an e-scooter cost in London?

Lime and Voi set their own prices, and TfL doesn’t publish them. On 12 October 2026 Voi’s London page listed no unlock fee and 27p a minute, so 20 minutes cost £5.40. Lime shows its London price only in its app. Each app shows the current rate before you unlock. New to hire scooters? See how to rent an e-scooter.

There are cheaper ways in:

• Discount schemes: Lime Access and Voi’s discounts cut fares for riders who qualify. By September 2025 about 3,000 people had signed up, TfL says, among them disabled people and people on lower incomes.
• Free training: Lime and Voi run free beginner sessions with Bikeworks, and you get a free helmet and free ride codes. Ealing Council says women-only sessions are available too.
• Santander Cycles: TfL’s docked bikes cost from £1.65 for up to 30 minutes, or £3 on an e-bike (TfL, 24 October 2026). Hire stops from the evening of 13 to the evening of 17 November 2026 while TfL switches apps.

E-scooter rules in London: age, licence, speed and helmets

TfL’s rules come on top of the national ones, and some are stricter: the scooters are capped at 12.5 mph, below the national 15.5 mph.

A hire scooter is still a motor vehicle in law. Riding on the pavement costs a £50 fixed penalty, holding and using a phone £200 and 6 points, and drink-drive law applies. The operators warn, retrain or ban riders who break the rules: by September 2025, 379 had been banned for poor riding or anti-social behaviour.

Where to park: every ride ends in a marked bay

You can end a hire only in a marked bay, painted or signed on the street and geofenced in the app; the app won’t end your ride anywhere else, and AI checks that the scooter is in the bay.

Find the bay nearest your destination before you set off, and leave the scooter standing up and out of the way.

If you don’t follow the parking rules, the City of London warns, you “may continue to be charged, fined or banned”; Lime and Voi publish no amounts for London. Wandsworth Council’s officers impound any e-scooter that causes a danger or an obstruction. Most riders get it right: parking compliance was 96% in July 2026, TfL reports.

No-go zones: the Royal Parks, canal towpaths and go-slow areas

Inside the trial area the app’s map shows two kinds of zone: in a no-go area the scooter comes to a safe stop, and in a go-slow area its speed drops to 8 mph, say the City of London and Lambeth Council.

Some places are closed to every e-scooter, hired or not:

• The Royal Parks: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Green Park, St James’s Park, the Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill, Richmond Park, Bushy Park, Greenwich Park, Brompton Cemetery and Victoria Tower Gardens. The Royal Parks, the charity that runs them, “does not, and has no plans to, permit the use of e-scooters on the land it manages”, and the Metropolitan Police enforce its park regulations.
• Canal towpaths: the Canal & River Trust’s Towpath Code (March 2026) says e-scooters “are not allowed”, the Regent’s Canal and the Grand Union included. The Trust’s bylaws prohibit them, and it has allowed no trial on its towpaths.

Council parks and private estates set their own rules: follow the app, whose navigation highlights cycleways and quiet routes, TfL says.

Is my own e-scooter legal in London?

No. “Privately-owned e-scooters or other powered transporters are not legal to use on public roads,” TfL says, and that goes for pavements, cycle lanes and parks too. You may ride one only on private land, with the landowner’s permission. The rental trial is the only legal way to ride an e-scooter in public in London.

Riding a private e-scooter in public means riding an uninsured motor vehicle: a £300 fixed penalty and 6 points on your licence, and the police can seize it. Since 29 June 2026 they can seize one ridden anti-socially without a warning first.

The national rules, fines and what may change are in our guide to e-scooter law in the UK.

Can you take an e-scooter on the Tube or a bus?

No, whether it’s yours or a hire scooter. In TfL’s words: “You are not allowed to carry e-scooters or e-unicycles on TfL services or in our stations or other premises on our public transport network, even when folded.” That covers the Tube, buses, the DLR, the Overground, the Elizabeth line and trams, and you risk a fine of up to £1,000.

The ban began on 13 December 2021, after defective lithium-ion batteries in private e-scooters and e-unicycles caused fires on the network. Hire scooters “have always been banned” because they can’t be folded. You may still carry, but not ride, a scooter without a motor, and the ban doesn’t cover mobility scooters or folding e-bikes.

Did you know?

• July 2026 was the busiest month yet, with more than 340,000 trips, 27% more than in July 2025. Riders have made more than nine million journeys since June 2021.
• Thursday is the busiest day, a sign that commuters lead, TfL says.
• Nearly half the trips replace a walk. In TfL’s end-of-ride surveys of 2023–24, 48% of trips replaced walking and 7% a car, taxi or minicab ride.
• A fifth of the bays are in areas with fewer public transport options, for the first and last mile.
• Spot them by colour: Voi’s scooters have a red frame and Lime’s a green and white one, Ealing Council says.