Lime bikes outside St Andrew's Church, Kingsbury
Brent Council Press Release
Lime has been notified that it must remove its dockless e-bikes from Brent by 31 October if it continues to ignore Brent Council's safety concerns and suggestions for improvements to the scheme.
Brent has partnered with Lime since 2019 and currently hosts 750 e-bikes in the borough as part of its commitment to promoting sustainable and active travel and reducing pollution.
While the partnership has supported this ambition, e-bikes have also come with significant safety concerns, which Lime has not currently addressed to the council’s satisfaction.
Of particular concern is the already high and increasing number of incidents of inconsiderately parked and abandoned e-bikes reported to the council daily and the often slow response time by Lime to remove these.
Lime bikes left scattered across our streets are causing havoc for other road users, especially for pedestrians and disabled people. Residents have gone sour on Lime and the council is receiving repeated, regular complaints about the bikes left across paths and roads in a haphazard way. This is putting unsustainable pressure on council staff who are spending time cleaning up after Lime. Something needs to change as the current situation is unsustainable and leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.
The council has written to Lime proposing several changes to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the scheme in Brent, while also meeting its wider transport and environmental objectives of creating healthier, more resilient and more welcoming streets and neighbourhoods.
These requests included:
- The introduction of dedicated e-bike parking bays:
This would ensure e-bikes are parked safely in dedicated, cordoned-off
areas which attract a high number of journeys and with high footfall,
such as stations, town centres, employment areas and other visitor
attractions. A ‘no parking zone’ would be introduced in all other areas
of the borough with any e-bikes left in this zone removed by Lime in an
agreed timeframe. This would also support a new London-wide e-mobility
contract being developed by Transport for London, London Councils and
boroughs to make the usage of e-bikes and e-scooters safer and more
consistent across the capital. Planned to launch in 2026, a central
element of the scheme is a requirement to provide dedicated, controlled
parking for rental e-bikes and e-scooters.
- Dedicated in-borough resources to manage day-to-day operations:
Dedicated local resources would help ensure that any e-bikes reported
to be inconsiderately parked or abandoned be removed swiftly, which is
not currently the case. Brent has also requested that Lime increases
penalties for users who fail to leave their e-bikes in the correct
location from the current fine which is set at £10 and which the council
does not feel provides an adequate deterrent.
- A commitment from Lime to give back to the local community: In line with the council’s commitment to all its partnerships adding value to the local community, the council asked Lime to consider providing local training and employment opportunities and community engagement events as part of its activities in the borough. This would include a Brent Resident Forum where users and non-users can meet with the council and Lime to share their views on how the scheme is working locally and any improvements.
Lime’s response to Brent Council’s above requests has not been satisfactory. Muhammed Butt said:
To date, Lime has not satisfied our proposals, which we consider vital to ensuring the safe and efficient operation of the scheme in Brent. Unless Lime changes the way it works with us, we are out of road for its activities in Brent.
The council is awaiting a response to its latest letter to Lime with its position. Pending this response, Brent Council has provided formal pre-emptive notice to Lime that all e-bikes must be removed from Brent by 31 October 2024.
Councillor Butt concluded
It’s high time Lime takes responsibility for its service and users. We want Lime to take ours and residents’ concerns seriously and amend its operating model to account for the common-sense asks we have made.
8 comments:
So the same Labour politicians who agreed & signed the botched up Lime contract in 2019 finally threaten action 5 years after they realise that the bike scheme is causing problems in our streets. It does not require a genius to realise that if you offer people the option to "leave the bike anywhere" they will leave them 'anywhere' irrespective of how inconvenient that might be for other users of our pavements. It's a shame that what seemed like a good idea was so badly delivered by Labour run Brent Council.
It took the Council long enough to do this. Residents were reporting abandoned bikes, but they seem to have given up as the bikes weren't being removed after being reported, also, why do residents have to manage these mobile obstructions for Lime? The hacking of these bikes and leaving them in totally inappropriate places seems to be a game to some people in Brent. The sooner they are gone the better. Now, what about the illegal e-bikes and scooters?
Why are there in excess of 10% of the 750 Lime bikes in the Sudbury Court area? Obviously there are more than 750 Lime bikes in Brent.
I do agree
How much ASB has been carried out using these bikes?
Lime can fine people for leaving bikes in dangerous places - why aren't they doing this???
They should sort out their software to stop the bikes being hacked. You can tell by the ringing noise as they cycle past. They should only be ridden by over 18s. If the bike is out of battery their GPS does not work, so they don't know where they are unless someone tells them.
Damm stupid idea from the start - please get them off our streets.
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