Wandsworth takes action on e-bikes

Council now installing 111 new parking bays and will ban parking e-bikes anywhere else in busy town centres after complaints about irresponsible behaviour. 

E-bike hire schemes are proving popular across the country. As well as the health advantages of active travel, they’re a more flexible and greener alternative to the car. That makes them good news given the amount of traffic in our densely populated cities. 

Photograph courtesy of Wandsworth Council

But given that population, e-bikes also need to be used with consideration for others. Unfortunately, complaints have been raised about e-bikes being ‘abandoned’ in the middle of streets and on roads, blocking access and causing considerable nuisance. Wandsworth Council in London recently conducted an extensive survey of residents and is now taking direct action to curb such irresponsible use – while still encouraging people to use e-bikes where they can. 

New parking bays for e-bikes – 111 in total – are being installed across the region, including in Balham, Clapham Junction, Putney, Tooting Bec, Tooting Broadway and Wandsworth Town. Once installed, riders will be expected to use the new bays wherever possible. In fact, parking of e-bikes will be expressly forbidden on pavements in busy town centres. ‘Free-floating’ parking will still be permitted away from these busy areas, in quieter parts of the borough, but riders must act responsibly in using and parking e-bikes. 

The council advises members of the public to report any poorly parked or abandoned e-bikes directly to the operators in question. A further rollout of e-bike parking bays will follow later this year. 

David Tidley, Head of Transport Strategy at Wandsworth Council, says: ‘We support the use of e-bikes as they offer a convenient travel option for residents and visitors. They’re a clean and sustainable way of getting around and help to improve local air quality. We are really pleased that there have already been more than a million journeys made by e-bike in Wandsworth. 

 ‘But residents will know that there have been some challenges, with a small minority of riders abandoning bikes without any thought for pedestrians and local communities. These new bays will help riders to park in fixed town-centre locations and encourage considerate parking.’ 

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