A share bike stuck in a tree in Ultimo on Sunday.Credit: Michael Koziol
The state government is planning a crackdown on shared e-bikes, which is likely to involve geo-fenced parking areas to keep footpaths clear, amid growing community concern about safety and bikes being dumped around the city.
A taskforce of 13 government agencies – from NSW Police to Fair Trading to Premier Chris Minns’ department – has been established to develop a regulatory framework encompassing bike storage, battery safety and compliance.
There will be a trial of designated parking areas at train stations including Sydenham aimed at stopping riders from leaving bikes strewn over footpaths, corridors and up trees.
The government is closely studying Transport for London’s system, which requires dockless bike operators to remove vehicles causing a danger or obstruction within two hours. Bikes deemed to be causing a “nuisance” must be removed within 24 hours, or the operator will be penalised.
London, where cycling is popular, also runs its own public bike hire scheme – Santander Cycles – using docking stations. The Minns government does not intend to implement that model.
“The initial roll-out of shared bikes in 2017 was far from perfect,” Transport for NSW said. “The future regulatory approach will be informed by the trials of e-scooters under way in metropolitan and regional areas.”
The City of Sydney is also asking the government to limit the number of e-bike operators and cap the number of vehicles they are allowed to deploy in the local government area, and force bikes to slow to 10km/h in certain geo-fenced areas.
A flurry of complaints from residents has prompted demands for faster action. Lord Mayor Clover Moore, a well-known cycling advocate, said: “Despite the city’s limited powers, we are still doing everything we can to influence operator behaviour, improve safety for people riding and walking, and push the NSW government for proper regulation of share bikes.”
Potts Point resident Paul Mooney said share bikes were a good idea in principle, but they should only be parked in designated racks. Any bikes dumped in the street should be collected by council garbage trucks and thrown in the garbage, he said.
“These bikes are everywhere. They’re dangerous,” Mooney said, blaming hooligans. “These things are destroying the gardens. People come along and knock them over. People in Australia do things like that – I don’t know why.”
Elia Eliopoulou, with kids Jack, 10, and Sophie, 12, using Lime bikes to explore Sydney on Wednesday.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos
But bike users had a different view. Elia Eliopoulou, a visitor from the Central Coast, has spent the past three days cycling around Sydney on shared e-bikes with children Jack, 10, and Sophie, 12.
“They are the best form of transport in Sydney,” he said. “One less car on the road, kids are getting exercise. Most people have been smiling [at us] as we ride together as a family.”
Eliopoulou said concerns about the share bikes were overblown. “Australia is so behind Europe,” he said. “You go to Amsterdam, you go to London, Switzerland, Vienna – they ride for everything. It’s normal. Village people, CEOs, young people, old people. We need to create that culture here.”
There are already some limits on where bikes can be parked; for example, the city’s largest share bike operator Lime requires users to upload a photo at the end of their trip showing they have not blocked a road or footpath.
A spokesman said Lime supported designated parking areas, but “they need to be throughout the city at appropriate density levels … It has to be user-focused and city-focused, which means you’re going to have different set-ups in different areas.”
The firm was working “hand-in-hand” with the state government and City of Sydney on possible regulatory measures, he said. A parliamentary inquiry into e-bikes and e-scooters, chaired by the Greens’ Cate Faehrmann, is taking public submissions.
In late June, Moore told a council meeting NSW Roads Minister John Graham had advised her consultation would take place on a regulatory scheme for share bikes “very soon”.
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