Westminster City Council enforces new plans for dockless e-bikes

The National Federation of the Blind of the UK (NFBUK) says discarded e-bikes are creating safety issues for visually-impaired Londoners

Westminster City Council reveals plans to enforce new rules on dockless e-bikes, in a bid to stop them being dumped on pavements.

It plans to create 220 parking bays for the bikes, with the biggest bay proposed to go halfway between Marble Arch and Bond Street Tube stations.

Other large bays are proposed near Kingsway and Oxford Circus.

Residents say e-bikes left in the road are a danger to people with disabilities and visual impairment.

The new arrangement, supported by bike firms Lime, TIER and Forest, will be in place for a trial period of 18 months.

The authority said it would create the bays by repurposing a mixture of underused resident car parking spaces, pay-to-park bays, yellow lines, underused cycle stands, and creating new spaces on the wide pavements "where appropriate".

'Streets kept clear'

A number of no-parking zones in narrow West End Streets has already been introduced using 'geo-fencing' - meaning that in some areas, the ability to end a journey on the bike apps has been disabled.

This will now be extended across the whole borough, with the exception of the designated parking locations.

Riders who do not end their journey in a bay will risk fines or even a ban from using the bikes.

Paul Dimoldenberg, the council's cabinet member for city management and air quality, said cycling was "a fantastic way to get around Westminster", but the current dockless arrangement often presented "a clear safety hazard" to pedestrians.

The new trial of parking bays aimed to "ensure our streets are kept clear and accessible for everyone", he said.

People living close to each of the proposed bays have been contacted by the council informing them of the change and requesting feedback on any specific issues with the bay locations.

It is estimated that there are about 3,000 hire bikes in Westminster borough at any one time.

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