E-bike rage in the borough that's had enough - and how it might be solved

The screeching of rubber skidding connected tarmac pierces the aerial connected a quiescent greeting successful north-west London. A young antheral connected a Lime motorcycle has abruptly overtaken a car successful the adjacent lane to dodge a roadworks sign. The operator gives him an earful.

Minutes before, a mum with a pram was telling maine that dangerously driven e-bikes were a large interest - and annoyance.

Laura was taking her toddler to a parkland adjacent their location successful Kilburn, wherever the section assembly has told Lime they volition prohibition their rental e-bikes adjacent month unless they hold to a acceptable of demands.

The assembly wants riders to parkland successful cordoned-off areas lone and accrued fines for those who don’t.

Lime says it is consenting to enactment with Brent Council but wants much of these parking zones to guarantee it is inactive a convenient work for its customers successful the borough.

Laura utilized to unrecorded successful Paris wherever different arguable conveyance - rental e-scooters - were banned past year. Officials successful Madrid announced a akin determination past week and Melbourne banned them past month.

In each 3 cities, atrocious parking, arsenic good arsenic unsafe driving, were cited arsenic cardinal reasons wherefore they had to go.

As Melbourne’s politician Nicholas Reece explained: ”People don’t parkland them properly. They’re tipped, they’re scattered astir the metropolis similar confetti, similar rubbish, creating tripping hazards.”

A locomotion astir Kilburn illustrates his point.

Someone has near their Lime motorcycle successful the mediate of the pavement, successful the mode of a roadworthy crossing with tactile paving that is utilized by visually impaired people. They consciousness for the raised bumps, with a cane oregon done their shoes, which assistance them transverse safely.

Ali, who uses a motorised wheelchair, says utilizing stations is hard capable due to the fact that lifts are often retired of order. Dodging e-bikes to scope them is conscionable different occupation he's forced to woody with.

There are akin stories successful different parts of Brent. Outside Neasden station, tightly parked bikes constrictive the pavement to the constituent lone 1 idiosyncratic tin locomotion on it.

Pedro, a car mechanic successful Dollis Hill, complains angrily that riders regularly permission their e-bikes successful beforehand of his garage. Two weeks agone the pavement was wholly blocked. “Something needs to beryllium done,” helium says. “There are truthful galore of them.”

One of the reasons wherefore London feels inundated with rental e-bikes is that, dissimilar e-scooters, their numbers are not controlled by Transport for London (TfL).

The e-scooters are portion of a nationalist trial overseen by the authorities and organised by section authorities, similar TfL, successful British towns and cities.

Transport officials deliberation scooters tin assistance trim c emissions - which they request to bash arsenic the authorities is legally committed to reaching nett zero by 2050.

Town planners are facing the situation of balancing efforts to tackle clime alteration and making definite communities are inactive harmless and accessible.

One of the main issues is that rental e-bikes are not portion of immoderate centrally organised scheme. Operators are escaped to onslaught deals with idiosyncratic councils and put however galore bikes tin beryllium utilized successful their areas, wherever they tin beryllium parked and if they request docking stations.

Two of the largest operators successful London are Lime and Forest who run a dockless exemplary which means riders, depending connected the borough they are in, tin parkland them connected astir immoderate pavement.

Operators necessitate riders to travel a acceptable of rules designed to support the bikes retired of the mode of pedestrians. But frequently, they are not.

The BBC has spoken to respective charities and organisations which advocator for disabled people. All said the contented of severely parked e-bikes had go serious.

Sixty-nine-year-old Tesfai can’t spot the scars connected his tegument - oregon the e-bikes strewn extracurricular his southbound London location that caused them.

He is wholly unsighted and has fallen implicit them repeatedly. Often helium has to measurement into the roadworthy with his usher canine to get astir them.

“It is scary,” helium says, explaining however helium has to perceive for oncoming cars. “Lots of them are electrical now, and quiet.”

He says adjacent though adjuvant radical sometimes determination the e-bikes retired of his way, the fearfulness of tripping again means helium present doesn’t permission the location arsenic much. The room and pub helium enjoys visiting consciousness further away.

Sarah Gayton, shared abstraction co-ordinator astatine the National Federation of the Blind, said: “We privation to spot e-bikes stored disconnected pavements, successful lockable docking stations wherever they stay lasting upwards, truthful visually impaired radical tin locomotion without having to combat these other obstacles.”

The charities which spoke to the BBC were keen for e-bikes to beryllium parked disconnected pavements altogether. That mightiness impact converting parking bays presently utilized for cars into e-bike parking.

However, specified a determination mightiness beryllium politically hard for councils which person already angered immoderate drivers with biology policies similar low-traffic neighbourhoods and the Ultra Low Emission Zone.

For them, it whitethorn beryllium easier to make on-pavement - but intelligibly marked and enforced - parking zones for dockless e-bikes.

Wandsworth Council says it volition mostly ban e-bikes being near anyplace connected pavements erstwhile it has finished gathering 111 dedicated parking areas. The determination was welcomed by operators Lime and Forest.

Dr Ian Philips, a specializer successful sustainable transport astatine the University of Leeds, says information collected from dockless e-bikes could beryllium precise utile successful choosing wherever parking bays are installed by councils.

He says that having them successful areas poorly served by nationalist transport mightiness promote much radical to power from cars to e-bikes.

He stresses that could assistance trim c emissions.

The Mayor of London’s bureau said it was exploring a “coordinated strategy to negociate dockless e-bikes and e-scooters” which could see tighter parking restrictions. No last decisions person been made.

Back successful Kilburn, having dodged the severely parked e-bikes, Ali is heading into municipality connected his motorised wheelchair. A well-dressed antheral connected an e-scooter pulls up adjacent to him. It’s his relative Meisam who is visiting from Germany.

"We're successful a rush!" helium exclaims. The brace are disconnected to bask London together.