Hobart's shared e-bikes come back, with Lime starting 24 August

Hobart is getting shared bikes back on the street. The City of Hobart has named Lime the successful tenderer for its new shared e-bike service, with roughly 350 bikes to be deployed from 24 August 2026 under an initial 12 month permit that can be renewed. The first bikes go to the places that already generate the demand: the waterfront, Salamanca and the CBD.

It fills a gap. Beam Mobility had run shared devices in Hobart since December 2021, and its permit expired at the end of June 2026, leaving the city without a scheme for the back half of winter.

E-bikes in, shared e-scooters out

The bigger call sits underneath the operator announcement. Council has moved to an e-bike-only shared micromobility model and has dropped shared e-scooters entirely, citing regulatory, safety and parking concerns. The council's own position is that e-bikes suit Hobart's streets and cycling network better and are more commonly used for everyday transport trips rather than joyrides.

Privately owned e-scooters are not affected. They remain legal in Tasmania when ridden under the Tasmanian Road Rules, which among other things still keep personal mobility devices off roads with a marked centre line or multiple marked lanes. Council says it is continuing to work with the state government on that rule.

The rules for riders

• You must be at least 16 to ride a shared e-bike in Hobart
• An approved helmet is mandatory, and one is provided with the bike if you do not have your own
• Designated inner-city parking zones apply, with a map due from council, and you finish a trip by parking upright, clear of footpath through-routes, entrances, disability access points, crossings and bus stops, then taking an end-of-trip photo in the app
• Poorly parked bikes can attract warnings, penalties or extra charges from the operator

Council is also publishing trip and usage data through a public dashboard run by Ride Report, which is a useful detail: it means the argument about whether the scheme is working will be settled with numbers rather than letters to the editor.