Clamping down on e-bike clutter

To support access to cycling, and encourage parking responsibly, the Council will soon start installing an additional 65 e-bike parking bays in key locations around the borough with a focus on our busy town centres. This is to ensure everyone can still benefit from the flexibility of dockless e-bikes, whilst ensuring parking is safely managed. The location of the bays has been chosen following extensive public consultation.  

Find out more about our support for environmentally friendly forms of travel.

Councillor Jenny Yates, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “E-bikes are a popular and environmentally friendly way to get around, with about 400,00 trips per month within our borough. The Council is supportive of residents making healthy and sustainable travel choices, but we are also clear that e-bikes must be used safely and responsibly, and residents’ concerns must be addressed. 

“That’s why we have been working hard with the providers Forest and Lime to ensure that measures are put in place to tackle inconsiderate parking, and e-bikes cluttering pavements and making life difficult for pedestrians, especially those with disabilities. 

“These new parking bays are a key part of this, helping to ensure e-bikes are properly stored away in busy areas, while still being easily accessible for those who want to use them. We will continue working with the providers to monitor the use of e-bikes in Wandsworth to make sure they are used safely and will not shy away from making further improvements if we think it's necessary.”

Since June this year, 110 e-bike parking spaces have been installed in hubs such as Clapham Junction, Tooting Broadway, Tooting Bec, Wandsworth Town, Balham and Putney. 

Further actions the Council has taken to make e-bike hire safer and to encourage better parking, includes creating ‘no parking zones’ in key spots such as parks and town centres, and creating ‘go slow’ routes in heavily pedestrianised areas such as the Thames Path.

Katheryn Anscombe, a Roehampton student said: “I think the bikes are a key part of the transport network – we don’t have many tube stations in Wandsworth, so being able to quickly grab an e-bike and cycle to the tube is so useful. It’s a 45-minute walk from my house otherwise.

“Having parking bays for bikes makes sense. You see so many just piled up on the pavements and it must be impossible to get a pram or a wheelchair around them sometimes.”

Stay informed

To stay informed about our next round of e-bike parking consultations, make sure to sign up for Brightside Online, or check back regularly on our consultations page.  

Reporting bikes

You should continue to report any poorly parked or abandoned e-bikes directly to the operators.

Forest:

Telephone: 020 8157 7491 

Email: cs@humanforest.co.uk

Lime:

Telephone: 0800 808 5223 

Email: london-ops@li.me