Sadiq Khan has called for a solution to the “Wild West” effect on London’s pavements of poorly-parked dockless e-bikes and e-scooters, calling it “an unregulated area” in which “there are no rules, it appears”.
Speaking during his latest Mayor’s Question Time session with the London Assembly at City Hall, the Mayor said the growing number of micromobility vehicles in the capital were offering convenient travel options for many Londoners, as well as contributing to City Hall’s goal of expanding active travel, but that safety issues were growing. “What’s happening now isn’t working,” he said.
Khan was responding to the concern of Labour London Assembly member (AM) Elly Baker, that inconsiderate e-scooter and e-bike parking was “having a big impact on pedestrians’ ability to get around London, particularly for older and disabled people or those pushing buggies”. The nuisance caused was also encouraging negative perceptions of cycling as a whole, she said.
Khan confirmed that he had himself been approached by “lots” of residents “complaining about this nuisance on the pavements”. The micromobility companies needed to be careful, he warned: “The public could soon become anti-dockless bikes and scooters, and that will be counter-productive.”
The lack of regulation had left the boroughs, which between them control 95 per cent of roads in the capital, trying to make individual agreements with the companies, Khan said. Transport for London was also considering options for enforcement on its own roads and had provided funding for some boroughs to design and install parking bays.
City Hall and London Councils, the cross-party umbrella group for the boroughs, are looking to agree on a single beefed-up approach, building on a code of practice agreed in 2018 to set out expectations that the companies providing the service would take action to prevent nuisance and obstruction.
However, Baker said those those expectations were unenforceable and users of the bikes were were in any case not using the parking bays already installed as a matter of course. “Surely the solution must now be for the government to legislate to give the Mayor and the boroughs the power to regulate,” she said.
Khan agreed, adding that the Department for Transport has already been “receptive” to the request. The common Londonwide approach which was now being considered would be most likely to gain Whitehall support, he added.
Last month, Rachel Blake, the newly-elected Labour MP for Cities of London & Westminster, wrote to transport minister Simon Lightwood asking for local authorities to be given “the powers to fine riders who park in a hazardous way and to fine the companies who fail to remove hazards.”
Watch the whole of Mayor’s Question Time here. Photo: Lime Bikes parked on a pavement in Bishopsgate. OnLondon.co.uk provides unique coverage of the capital’s politics, development and culture. Support it for just £5 a month or £50 a year and get things for your money other people won’t. Details HERE. Follow Charles Wright on X/Twitter.
The only rational thing to do is to force the companies to police themselves. They need to increase individual unit security measures to stop them being jail broken, refuse further access / use by users who park them incorrectly and fine users who are demonstrated to have used them dangerously.
A few more traffic officers focusing on cycle use on roads (or pavements!) would also help.