Labour has repeated its call to e-bike operators Lime and Forest to significantly improve the current unacceptable situation on the streets and pavements of Westminster.

Labour has called on the e-bike operators to:

• Improve the poor quality geofencing currently being used so that e-bikes can only park in designated bays and cannot be dumped in dangerous locations obstructing the pavement.
• Increase the number of rangers on the street to move dangerously parked e-bikes within the contractually agreed 1 hour timeframe.
• Increase the number of vans to move excess e-bikes from parking bays that are overstocked.
• Stop the current unacceptable practice of moving e-bikes after midnight and later which wakes up residents and ruins their sleep.
• Increase the level of fines issued to riders who park badly from the derisory £10 fine currently levied which has minimal impact on behaviour change.
• Ban riders who ride on the pavement or jump red lights causing a danger to pedestrians and themselves.

The Council is keen to encourage more cycling and has welcomed the huge growth in cycling since the introduction of e-bikes on to Westminster streets in 2022. A network on 346 parking spaces for hire e-bikes has been installed since October 2023, providing a total of 3,400 e-bike parking spaces, and the largest and most comprehensive e-bike parking network in London.

In July 2024, there were 670,000 e-bike journeys in Westminster and more than double the 300,000 e-bike trips in Westminster in July 2023.

Currently, the e-bike operators do not have to ask permission to operate on the streets of Westminster and the Council has no power to ban or restrict the use of hire e-bikes. Labour has called on the Government to introduce legislation to enable the Council to control e-bikes and e-scooters, including the power to issue fines for dangerous e-bike and e-scooter parking.

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

“We have been crystal clear to the e-bike operators that e-bike and e-scooter parking outside designated bays is not permitted in any way, shape or form. It is the operators’ direct responsibility to ensure riders park only in the designated bays, to remove badly parked bikes immediately and to fine every rider who parks outside of the designated areas. We are hammering this home to them at our weekly meetings and expect to see a sharp rise in compliance as a result.”

“E-bike operators Lime and Forest need to significantly improve their practices to ensure that the huge growth in e-bike use in Westminster does not result in pavements being obstructed by badly parked bikes. The current situation where riders leave the bikes in dangerous places and where the operators allow parking bays to become overflowing with excess bikes is not acceptable.”

“We have called on the Government to introduce legislation to give the Council the power to issue fines for dangerous e-bike and e-scooter parking. The only long-term solution is to give Councils the powers to control e-bike parking in the same way as we have powers to control car parking.”