Leading blindness charity says e-bikes are hazardous for the visually impaired, disabled and elderly.
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Several London councils and the National Federation of the Blind are calling on Sadiq Khan to take city-wide action to regulate e-bikes, citing concerns for disabled and visually impaired residents.
Currently, the regulations on e-bike parking are borough-dependent, with some local authorities, such as Camden, the City of London and Westminster, requiring the electric bikes to be parked in mandatory parking bays.
Others, including Islington and Newham, use a mixture of “free-floating” and “bay” parking, giving riders more flexibility as to where to park the bikes.
Camden Town Hall – two @limebike lay abandoned on the ground causing a serious trip and fall hazard…
Nearest ‘mandatory’ 🅿️ parking bay is on the opposite side of the road – dockless hire is clearly out of control! pic.twitter.com/Q0RaJdHcgg
But, a leading charity representing the visually impaired told City News this approach is not working, with bikes cluttering the capital’s streets and proving hazardous for the visually impaired, disabled, and elderly, even in areas with mandatory bay parking.
The weather today may be keeping the bad dockless bike parking more under control, but otherwise the obstructions are fairly constant of late. A few of the dozen or so obstructive dockless bikes in my part of Wandsworth from the weekend. #LimeBike#ForestBikepic.twitter.com/INn2MMmEIh
Sarah Grayton, Director of the National Federation of the Blind, told City News of the ongoing struggles the blind community is facing.
“What you’ve seen is these bikes being dumped, or even being allowed to be parked on these pavements.”
“When people are told they can park them on the pavement, they think they’re doing the right thing. But actually, a blind or visually impaired person needs all of that pavement to navigate.”
“It all brings that extra clutter onto the pavement that for the disabled will cause trip hazards, it will cause obstructions”.
“On the scale that’s happening now, it’s just horrendous, absolutely horrendous.”
Ms Grayton said their members have reported struggles accessing crossing points.
She said: “They’re blocking the dropped curve and they’re on the tactile pavement, causing obstructions and a trip hazard”.
“The sheer volume of them… it’s a nightmare.”
‘Risk to pedestrians remains’
Council leaders across the capital are also demanding an end to the “free-floating” policy and the introduction of mandatory bay parking across Greater London.
Local authority leaders are now asking central Government to grant councils or Transport for London (TfL) legally enforceable powers over the bikes.
In a statement sent to City News, Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council Rezina Chouwdhry said:
“There is concern about dockless hire e-bikes being left in the street, and that bikes left on the pavement can cause a real hazard, particularly for disabled people. We are calling on the Government to give councils or TfL the power to act to really tackle this issue.”
Westminster Council Leader Adam Hug, who launched the borough’s bay parking trial in September, echoes these demands.
Good to see pledge on pedicabs in the #KingsSpeech but disappointed the Govt has not gone further to give councils the powers we need to regulate e-bikes & scooters. @CityWestminster will keep working with operators, but issue of bikes on streets & risk to pedestrians remains.
Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday, he expressed his disappointment: “The Government has not gone further to give councils the powers we need to regulate e-bikes & scooters.”
He said Westminster City Council “will keep working with operators, but (the) issue of bikes on streets and risk to pedestrians remains.”
Forest, one of London’s leading hire e-bike operators, told City News they are committed to increasing compliance, reducing e-bike misuse, and protecting the disabled and the visually impaired.
A representative of Forest told City News the company is using a combination of the latest technology and an incentive system to prevent improperly parked bikes.
They said: “We reward users with free minutes if they park in bays, even if it’s not mandated.”
The company has also invested in AI technology that rates riders based on their parking.
“If it sees tactile pavement, or that you’re blocking an entrance, it will ask you to re-park the bike or give you a lower score”, they said.
City News approached e-bike hire operator Lime for comment. They did not respond to our request.
Submitted Article
HeadlinePressure building on Mayor for regulation of ‘nightmare’ E-bikes on London’s streets
Short HeadlinePressure builds on Mayor to regulate E-bikes
StandfirstLondon Council’s and the National Federation on the Blind are calling for city-wide regulation of the bikes over concerns for disabled residents
Published Article
HeadlinePressure building on Mayor for regulation of ‘nightmare’ e-bikes on London’s streets
Short HeadlinePressure builds on Mayor to regulate e-bikes
StandfirstLondon councils and the National Federation of the Blind are calling for city-wide regulation of the bikes over concerns for disabled residents.
Several London Councils and the National Federation of the Blind are calling on Sadiq Khan to take city-wide action to regulate E-bikes, citing concerns for disabled and visually impaired residents.
Currently, the regulations on E-bike parking are borough dependent, with some Councils – such as Camden, the City of London and Westminster – requiring the electric bikes to be parked in mandatory parking areas, or ‘bays’.
Others, including Islington and Newham, use a mixture of ‘free-floating’ and ‘bay’ parking, enabling riders greater powers to choose where they deposit their bike.
However, a leading charity representing the visually impaired, says this approach is not working, with bike’s cluttering the capitals streets and proving hazardous for the visually impaired, disabled, and elderly, even in areas with mandatory bay parking.
The National Federation of the Blind say hazardously parked bikes are disproportionately impacting visually impaired Londoners.
‘It’s a nightmare’
Sarah Grayton, Director of the National Federation of the Blind, told City News of the ongoing struggles the blind community are facing.
She said: “What you’ve seen is these bikes being dumped, or even being allowed to be parked on these pavements”
“When people are told they can park them on the pavement, they think they’re doing the right thing. But actually, a blind or visually impaired person needs all of that pavement to navigate”
“It all brings that extra clutter onto the pavement that for the disabled will cause trip hazards, it will cause obstructions”.
“On the scale that’s happening now, it’s just horrendous. Absolutely horrendous.”
Sarah says her members have reported struggles accessing crossing points.
She said: “They’re blocking the dropped curve and they’re on the tactile pavement, causing obstructions and a trip hazard”.
“The sheer volume of them – it’s a nightmare”
The National Federation of the Blind say E-bikes should be docked or in clearly designated bays, not free-floating.
‘Risk to pedestrians remains’
Council leaders across the Capital are also demanding an end to the policy.
Several Council Leaders are now asking central government to grant Councils or Transport for London legally enforceable powers over the bikes.
In a statement sent to City News, Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council Rezina Chouwdhry said:
“There is concern about dockless hire e-bikes being left in the street, and that bikes left on the pavement can cause a real hazard, particularly for disabled people. We are calling on the Government to give councils or TfL the power to act to really tackle this issue.
Westminster Council Leader Adam Hug – who launched the boroughs bay-parking trial in September – echoes these demands.
Taking to X on Tuesday, he expresses his disappointment “that the Government have not gone further to give councils the powers we need to regulate e-bikes & scooters.”
He added: “@CityWestminster will keep working with operators, but issue of bikes on streets & risk to pedestrians remains.”
Forest, one of London’s leading E-Bike suppliers, told City News they are committed to increasing compliance, reducing E-Bike misuse, and protecting the disabled and the visually impaired.
A representative of Forest told City News the company are using a combination of the latest technology and a incentive system to prevent improperly parked bikes.
They said: “We reward users with free minutes if they park in bays, even if its not mandated”
The company have also invested in AI technology that rates riders based on their parking.
“If it sees tactile pavement, or that you’re blocking an entrance, it will ask you to re-park the bike or give you a lower score”, they said.
Responding to growing calls for regulation, Forest believes city-wide bay parking initiatives and Council or TfL oversight may well be the future of E-bike use in the Capital.
They said: “A lot of the boroughs are moving towards that bayed approach, with more concrete regulations and stipulations about where bikes can be left.”
“Across the industry I think there is real desire for that – the problem is that it lies in the hands of the government”
Several London councils and the National Federation of the Blind are calling on Sadiq Khan to take city-wide action to regulate e-bikes, citing concerns for disabled and visually impaired residents.
Currently, the regulations on e-bike parking are borough-dependent, with some local authorities, such as Camden, the City of London and Westminster, requiring the electric bikes to be parked in mandatory parking bays.
Others, including Islington and Newham, use a mixture of “free-floating” and “bay” parking, giving riders more flexibility as to where to park the bikes.
Camden Town Hall – two @limebike lay abandoned on the ground causing a serious trip and fall hazard…
Nearest ‘mandatory’ 🅿️ parking bay is on the opposite side of the road – dockless hire is clearly out of control! pic.twitter.com/Q0RaJdHcgg
But, a leading charity representing the visually impaired told City News this approach is not working, with bikes cluttering the capital’s streets and proving hazardous for the visually impaired, disabled, and elderly, even in areas with mandatory bay parking.
The weather today may be keeping the bad dockless bike parking more under control, but otherwise the obstructions are fairly constant of late. A few of the dozen or so obstructive dockless bikes in my part of Wandsworth from the weekend. #LimeBike#ForestBikepic.twitter.com/INn2MMmEIh
Sarah Grayton, Director of the National Federation of the Blind, told City News of the ongoing struggles the blind community is facing.
“What you’ve seen is these bikes being dumped, or even being allowed to be parked on these pavements.”
“When people are told they can park them on the pavement, they think they’re doing the right thing. But actually, a blind or visually impaired person needs all of that pavement to navigate.”
“It all brings that extra clutter onto the pavement that for the disabled will cause trip hazards, it will cause obstructions”.
“On the scale that’s happening now, it’s just horrendous, absolutely horrendous.”
Ms Grayton said their members have reported struggles accessing crossing points.
She said: “They’re blocking the dropped curve and they’re on the tactile pavement, causing obstructions and a trip hazard”.
“The sheer volume of them… it’s a nightmare.”
‘Risk to pedestrians remains’
Council leaders across the capital are also demanding an end to the “free-floating” policy and the introduction of mandatory bay parking across Greater London.
Local authority leaders are now asking central Government to grant councils or Transport for London (TfL) legally enforceable powers over the bikes.
In a statement sent to City News, Deputy Leader of Lambeth Council Rezina Chouwdhry said:
“There is concern about dockless hire e-bikes being left in the street, and that bikes left on the pavement can cause a real hazard, particularly for disabled people. We are calling on the Government to give councils or TfL the power to act to really tackle this issue.”
Westminster Council Leader Adam Hug, who launched the borough’s bay parking trial in September, echoes these demands.
Good to see pledge on pedicabs in the #KingsSpeech but disappointed the Govt has not gone further to give councils the powers we need to regulate e-bikes & scooters. @CityWestminster will keep working with operators, but issue of bikes on streets & risk to pedestrians remains.
Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday, he expressed his disappointment: “The Government has not gone further to give councils the powers we need to regulate e-bikes & scooters.”
He said Westminster City Council “will keep working with operators, but (the) issue of bikes on streets and risk to pedestrians remains.”
Forest, one of London’s leading hire e-bike operators, told City News they are committed to increasing compliance, reducing e-bike misuse, and protecting the disabled and the visually impaired.
A representative of Forest told City News the company is using a combination of the latest technology and an incentive system to prevent improperly parked bikes.
They said: “We reward users with free minutes if they park in bays, even if it’s not mandated.”
The company has also invested in AI technology that rates riders based on their parking.
“If it sees tactile pavement, or that you’re blocking an entrance, it will ask you to re-park the bike or give you a lower score”, they said.
City News approached e-bike hire operator Lime for comment. They did not respond to our request.
