Nottingham will soon have more dockless electric hire bikes on its streets after Dott expanded its fleet this summer — but the increase comes with a direct trade-off for e-scooter availability because of a strict vehicle cap set by the city council.
Operators constrained by vehicle limit
Dott, the firm that runs the city’s e-scooter scheme, introduced the first of its hire e-bikes in Nottingham on 17 July. Four weeks after launch, 200 blue Dott bikes are already appearing in racks and parking areas across the city. The company intends to raise that number to 300, but local rules mean it cannot simply increase the total number of hire vehicles on the streets.
Nottingham City Council’s arrangement with operators limits each provider to a maximum of 1,300 vehicles — scooters or bikes — within the city boundaries. To reach 300 bikes, Dott will therefore need to remove 300 scooters from circulation that it introduced in early 2025 to remain compliant with the cap.
Different vehicles, different users
Dott’s head of public policy, Iqbal Ahmed, said the firm sees e-bikes and e-scooters as complementary rather than competing services and argued the mixed fleet increases appeal across different groups of users.
“E-bikes are not generally more widely used than e-scooters; they just appeal to different demographics. Our user surveys show that e-bikes appeal more to women and older residents than e-scooters do. They are also preferred by some for longer trips. In the UK, e-scooters also require users to be 18+ and hold either a driver’s licence or a provisional licence.”
The Dott bikes are visually distinct from Lime’s hire bikes: Dott’s are blue, while Lime’s remain white and green. The firms also adopt contrasting pricing approaches that will matter to regular users choosing between providers on cost alone.
- Dott bikes are free to unlock but charge 25p per minute.
- Lime bikes charge £1 to unlock and then 17p per minute.
- For rides up to 12 minutes, Dott is cheaper; for 13 minutes and longer, Lime becomes the cheaper option, based on the headline prices.
Passes and subscriptions change value proposition
Both companies offer a range of passes and subscriptions that can reduce costs for frequent riders. Lime, for example, lists several time-limited passes on its platform — including:
| Pass | Duration | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 30 minutes | Use within 24 hours | £1.99 |
| 60 minutes | Use within three days | £3.99 |
| 150 minutes | Use within seven days | £9.99 |
| 280 minutes | Use within 30 days | £17.99 |
These passes are advertised as saving riders an average of about 70 per cent on the standard price. Lime also offers a LimePrime subscription at £1.99 per month, which makes unlocking free and reduces short trips to discounted rates.
What this means for Nottingham residents
The swap of scooters for bikes will change the balance of hire vehicles available on Nottingham streets. For some residents, particularly those who prefer pedal-assisted bikes for slightly longer journeys or who are put off by scooter age restrictions, the Dott expansion may broaden travel choices. Others who favour scooters for very short trips or for different accessibility reasons will see fewer devices of that type where Dott withdraws them.
Local decision-makers and operators will need to monitor how the change affects usage patterns, clutter and parking behaviour across neighbourhoods. The vehicle cap enforced by the council ensures the total number of hire devices remains stable, but not necessarily evenly distributed between modes.
As operators experiment with fleet mixes and pricing, Nottingham residents who rely on dockless transport will need to compare prices and passes to find the most economical option for their journeys.
