Labour Westminster Council is working with three dockless e-bike operators – Human Forest, Tier and Lime – to provide 220 designated bays for parking both dockless e-bikes and e-scooters. The aim is to have at least 1 parking bay every 300m across the city. The mandatory parking bay scheme across Westminster means e-bike users will need to end their trips in one of the designated bays or face a fine.

Using geo-fencing technology, all e-bike parking bays will be monitored by the operators to ensure that any bikes parked outside of dedicated bays are identified and removed quickly.

With over 3,000 dockless e-bikes in Westminster at any time, it is a challenge to keep our pavements free from dumped bikes which block pavements and make it hard for pedestrians, especially those with visual or mobility impairments.

By requiring e-bike users to park in designated spots, Westminster’s pavements will be safer and it will be easier for those who live, work or visit Westminster to find and use rental e-bikes.

In busy central areas, there will be more bays to meet the high demand for bikes. Bays will be located on the road or on wide pavements, depending on what works best in each location.

In the initial network there will be a parking bay within a 5-minute walk from every household in Westminster. We will look to expand the network with more e-bike parking bays where there’s a clear demand for more e-bikes.

Currently, there is no legislation to require e-bike providers like Lime, Tier and Human Forest to require users to park in specific areas. This has led to some e-bikes being dumped on pavements causing a nuisance and a hazard for pedestrians, making our pavements less safe.

The existing e-scooter rental bays will be merged with these new rental e-bike bays.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Cabinet Member for City Management and Air Quality, said:

“We are working closely with the e-bike operators, Transport for London, and other authorities to find long-term solutions to the huge growth in e-bike usage in Westminster and the rest of inner London. This new e-bike parking bays scheme aims to provide easy access to dockless e-bike hire, encourage active travel, promote responsible bike usage, and end the problems caused by e-bikes being dumped on the pavement.”