Transport for London (TfL) must use new regulatory powers granted by the government to crack down on “nuisance” e-bike parking, City Hall Labour have said.
The capital’s boroughs have struggled to properly regulate the vehicles, which have exploded in popularity in recent years, due to a lack of legal powers and a cohesive strategy between different areas of London.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act, passed earlier this year, has handed sweeping licensing powers to TfL to create a single city-wide regulatory framework for dockless e-bike operators. This will mean new requirements for firms like Lime, Forest and Voi around parking, safety and accessibility, though no details have been set out yet.
Credit: Facundo Arrizabalaga
Assembly Member Elly Baker, the Labour group’s transport lead on the London Assembly, said the new powers could turn around the perception of cycling in the city.
“Every Londoner will know that it’s a bit of a Wild West for dockless e-bikes,” she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) in an exclusive interview.
“They tend to be parked often on pavements, nuisance, getting in the way of people. Cycling is getting a bit of a bad rap because lots of what most Londoners see is actually just a load of Lime bikes hanging around, rather than people actually getting about [on them] and going about their business.
“At the moment, TfL and the boroughs don’t have enough powers to make sure these bikes are parked in appropriate places and being used in ways that complement our public transport system, rather than actually compete against it. Dockless e-bikes are really convenient for lots of people but need to work in harmony with the rest of our transport.”
The Act empowers TfL to legally license e-bike operators and potentially cap the number of bikes on London’s streets if necessary.
It will also be able to dictate where the bikes can be parked, and fine operators who fail to comply either with parking or safety standards.
No details have been set out by TfL yet, though Ms Baker said she was assured that the network is “very keen to take advantage” of the new powers soon.
“They’ve probably been quite frustrated [so far] at not being able to manage the operators in a way that’s positive,” she added. “I think TfL are really, really keen to use those powers again to make the schemes positive for London.
“What I really want to see is powers to be able to deal with nuisance parking which is the most obvious thing that people encounter on a day-to-day basis.
“I want to see the ability to cap the number of bikes so we can decide what the right number [is] but I also really want London to be able to require the private operators to share the journey type data about rides so we can make sure that where the bikes are deployed and where they go to is complementing public transport and not competing with it.”
The latest figures suggest 10 per cent of the 1.5million daily cycling trips in London are made on dockless e-bikes, with around 50,000 available for hire in the capital at any one time.
A TfL spokesperson said: “We welcome the new legislation which will provide TfL proper powers to regulate dockless bikes across London.
“This would provide the future ability to replace the existing patchwork and borough by borough approach with a consistent licensing scheme for London.
“We’re working closely with London’s boroughs and other partners to develop proposals for a London-wide licencing scheme and will be setting out further details in due course.”
