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You don’t have to walk far in London before seeing an e-bike zooming down a bike lane, dumped on the curb or lined up in droves outside a station. They are, quite literally, everywhere. And while the bike are great for a quick, eco-friendly ride, a lot of them are abandoned in inconvenient places, becoming major tripping hazards.
But now, Wandsworth Council is cracking down on inconsiderate e-bike parking. Once it installs 111 new parking bays across Clapham Junction, Tooting Broadway, Tooting Bec, Wandsworth Town, Balham and Putney town centres, the council will officially ban leaving e-bikes on undesignated parts of pavement.
The parking bays are on track to be ready by the end of July and more are expected to be installed later this year.
David Tidley, head of transport strategy at the council, told the Evening Standard: ‘[E-bikes are] 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.’
The ban comes just after Lime announced plans for a £25m expansion across London and has pledged that £1m of that will go towards 10,000 new parking spaces.
Hal Stevenson, the director of policy at Lime: ‘We're proud to be working with Wandsworth to launch its new flexible parking system. It follows the recommendations from the recent Steer and Centre for London report for less central boroughs to provide dedicated parking locations in busy areas and allow for non-obstructive parking - including at bike racks - elsewhere. Flexible parking rules help to avoid issues with pavement obstructions whilst ensuring shared e-bikes remain easy to use.’
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