E-bike company Lime has put up tongue-in-cheek adverts around the city on the final day of the Tube strikes, joking that “there is a good service on all Limes”.
Signs taking inspiration from the Tube map have appeared across the city as “strikelysts” who would normally take the Tube cycled into the city centre.
Billboards in areas such as Waterloo, Brick Lane, Highbury and Deptford displayed the signs which joked about the “Bakerloo Lime” or “Central Lime” being easy options to move around the capital.
An extraordinary two million trips were made by cyclists on Monday, according to London cycling commissioner Will Norman, with many Londoners hiring Lime’s electric bikes to quickly get to work.
Normally about 1.4m journeys are made by bike on weekdays.
A green tide of cyclists on the hire bikes were spotted whizzing through Hyde Park Corner on strike days as key Tube lines such as the Victoria Line and Piccadilly Line remained down.
The Elizabeth line has been one of the few reliable train services into central London during the five-day strike, making the electric bikes one of the quickest options to get into the city.
Lime revealed a more than 50% jump in trips during rush hour traffic on Monday and Tuesday, rising to three-quarters by Wednesday.
The company, which operates rental e-bikes and e-scooters in towns and cities around the world, said people had been taking longer journeys this week.
On Monday between 7am and 11am, the total number of trips taken surged by 58%, compared with the same period the previous week. The duration of trips rose by 37% and distances increased by 24%.
Momentum continued into Tuesday, where total trips increased by 50%, while the duration surged by 41% and distance rose by 28%, compared with the same period a week ago.
By Wednesday, the number of trips had surged by 74% week-on-week, the company said.
Hal Stevenson, Lime's UK and Ireland director of policy, said the data shows how London workers are using its bikes to "plug the gaps left by public transport".
"Journeys were longer in both distance and duration, indicating that many riders relied on Lime for their entire commute rather than just the first or last mile," he said.
Lime has "stepped up operations across the city" to meet the surge in demand, Mr Stevenson said.
He added: "Our driver team has been on standby to keep vehicles in service, whether through fresh batteries or rebalancing overcrowded bays, and we are continuing to increase foot patrols in central London to keep high-demand areas clear."
Further figures show that London commuters have increasingly been cycling to work because of this week’s industrial action.
Data from employee benefits provider YuLife showed that cycling miles tracked across London have jumped by 32% this week, from 3,878 to 5,120 miles, as workers turn to their bikes to beat the chaos.
With cycle lanes full of commuters throughout the week, some Londoners said the city had become “like Amsterdam”, while others suggested the strike may encourage more to get to work by bike more regularly.
On Tuesday, e-bike hire company Forest told the Standard it had seen four times the usual volume of cyclists compared to on similar days.
Alex Berwin, Head of Policy at Forest said: "As commuters grapple with the second day of strikes, we are continuing to see increased demand for our bikes.
“By 9am this morning we were already experiencing four times our usual demand, as Londoners looked for alternative ways to get to work.
“Our team has been working hard to prepare for the spike in demand, with additional on-street staff and e-bikes available - especially in the busiest commuter hubs - to support Transport for London and keep the city moving.”
