Tauranga City Council has declared itself happy with the use of Lime scooters in the city.

The electric scooters first popped up on city streets in October. A previous roll out was scheduled for May 2020 but was postponed due to Covid-19.

The council approved a 12-month trial of the devices stating that ‘providing communities with more ways to move around the city is a priority'.

Lime also operates nationwide in Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Dunedin, the Selwyn District and the Hutt Valley.

With Tauranga council looking for an environmentally friendly way to get around town, Lime scooters were awarded the trial last year and have been met by impressive demand.

'Overall, we are happy with the uptake in ridership,” said Brendan Bisley, director of transport for Tauranga City Council.

'Since the trial started in October, more than 26,000 people have taken almost 80,000 rides, which shows there is a real demand for this type of transport choice.

'Users have clocked up mor than 130,000km, which is more than three times the circumference of earth or about nine times around the entire coastline of New Zealand.”

The popularity of lime was self-evident last weekend as Lime Day 2021 at Mt Drury Reserve saw locals encouraged to give the scooters a chance, perhaps for the first time, in a bid to allay fears over safety and ease of use.