Newham to clamp down on dumped dockless bikes
There will be fewer dockless bikes blocking pavements in Newham if plans by the borough are approved next week.
The council intends to require dockless bike operators to introduce formal parking bays and goe-fencing to prevent bikes from being parked outside the official parking bays.
If approved by next week’s council meeting, the scheme will apply to the areas where dockless cycle services currently operate, including Stratford Olympic Park, Stratford, Maryland, West Ham, Canning Town North, Canning Town South, and Royal Victoria.
Some of those areas are also served by TfL’s cycle hire scheme, but this is not expected to be expanded until 2026 at the earliest, so they want to increase the use of dockless bikes in the meantime. But they also want to do so in a manner that doesn’t inconvenience pedestrians who have to get around bikes inconsiderately dumped on pavements.
Councils can’t block dockless bikes, but they can regulate them by introducing mandatory parking bays for cyclists to leave their bikes after their trip.
Councillor Sarah Ruiz, Statutory Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Environment, Sustainable Transport, Children’s Services, and Education, said: “Dockless cycle hire services play a key role in increasing access to cycling, especially for short, local journeys. However, we are equally committed to keeping Newham’s streets clear, safe, and accessible for all. Poorly managed dockless cycles can cause unnecessary hazards, which is why we are proposing specific parking spaces to prevent blocked footways – helping us build a fairer, greener, and more active Newham for everyone.”
The council paper to be considered is here.
In other road news, the council also proposes to install 875 new electric vehicle chargers in partnership with Redbridge and Waltham Forest, advancing Newham’s goal of 3,000 chargers by 2030.
A great idea started with the Boris bikes that with the evolution of electric scooters and bikes have now become a central London transport revolution. However, the lack of strict regulations has now become so serious, it is not only obvious to drivers that the lack of road craft awareness of many riders is a serious danger to themselves and other road users. Now because of the random dumping of bikes across pavements makes it dangerous for pedestrians too. Even as a sighted and non disabled person living in the Nth. Southwark, Bankside area the problem, at weekends and bank holidays has become more than just an inconvenience.
As I stated at the beginning, it’s a great idea to get people out and about but it’s getting to the stage where councils cannot simply bask in the PC glory of green transport. Time to take heads out of the sand and regulate realistically, not only for riders safety but for everyone else affected by their presence on the streets and pavements.
How will they enforce this? Creating docks for these bikes won’t stop people from leaving the bikes in the middle of the pavement.
Bike left in wrong place = cyclist getting fined by cycle hire firm.
Inconsiderate dumping is only half the problem. Equal attention needs to be paid to the menace of hire bikes being ridden on the pavement and whizzing through red traffic lights at top speed.
Pedestrians need eyes in the back of their heads as they take their life in their hands with close encounters coming from 360°.
Let’s have lots of virtual, geo-fenced equivalents of Red Light cameras and ‘Pavement Gatsos’ !
Geofenced parking bays isn’t a complete solution either, although it should be some improvement.
The siting of the bays to minimise impact is very important, especially since there is (at a minimum) servicing noise for battery changes (etc.), often between 01:00-04:00; and the cycles (in particular) seem to attract litter as well (needs to be mitigated by a bin right next to be bay, bin as little as 15m away other side of road is “too far” to encourage tidiness, from my personal experience of living with a bay outside my house in Westminster.
Councils need to include rules to a) provide data on bike and bay use on demand to councils to check effectiveness and b) be instructed to not “stuff” the bays with excessive numbers of vehicles in an attempt to crowd out competition, especially if the bay is already full. (I have seen this happen, late at night)
Things do seem to have improved in Brent since the council took action, so good luck to Newham. The problem of course isn’t bikes, it’s effing flytipping Londoners, who think it’s fine to dump large metal objects in the middle of the pavement when they’re done with them.
I’m glad your part of Brent has improved, I can’t say that I have seen any real difference. Perhaps more bikes being collected, but no major improvement.
This is in a very quiet part of the borough and still I see several abandoned, often on their sides blocking the pavement.
Part of the problem at Canning Town is that the Lime bikes stop working East of Canning town flyover so anyone wishing to go further has to leave the bike at Canning Town ad fine another form of travel. Not like you Ian to add photos that don’t fit the text, but is that picture really Newham. Its come up in the world if it has a arcade leading to Waitrose….