Lime bikes (and other hire companies) left in middle of pavement

[Rockets]

Are we to presume then that there is the demand to support these new parking bays (that will inevitably be filled by devices from all of the companies in the trial) or are the council taking a punt on the "if you build it they will come" mantra? Alternatively are TFL and the councils under pressure from the companies involved in the trial to extend the footprint for the services as the usage data has been better than expected/not as good as expected in the trials thus far (delete as applicable)? Seems a bit odd that they are investing our money and rolling these out without publishing data on the success of the trials.

[exdulwicher]

Well you don't want bikes left all over the place, that's very clear from this whole thread.

So the answer is some form of parking bay. It's more an improvement to the existing trial - sort of why you have the trial in the first place.

"Yes, it's good, people are using the scooters/bikes but we're getting complaints about inconsiderate parking, let's fix that..."

And then you fix it.

To be fair, the same rules apply for Zipcar, they have designated parking bays.

[Rockets]

Ah so the business model for the e-bike hire companies is changing then - will they now have to be left in parking bays exclusively? Is that confirmed? Great news if it is.

I also suspect there is an element of if you build it they will come to this as I still don't see good numbers of people using the e-scooters left in the bays on Lordship Lane or the same propensity for e-bike use around here as there is in central London - hence my interest in the numbers from the trial.

[redpost]

In many european cities the scooters must be left in designated bays, this is mandated by the local authority.

We used them extensivelt in Budapest and you are not allowed to end your ride unless it's in a designated bay, It's very easy to do the same in london.

[Bic Basher]

HumanForest have added more Green Bays where riders can park for 50p rather than £2.

New bays include the corner of Landells Road and Lordship Lane, Wood Vale with the junction of Lordship Lane, Peckham Rye with the junction of St Aidan's Road, Barry Road/Underhill Road junction which was already being used by Lime/Dott scooters, Dulwich Common/Alleyn Park, Hunts Slip Road, Dulwich Common opposite the Dulwich College Sports Club and the Lordship Lane Estate opposite McLeod Court.

HumanForest riders will also be able to use their bikes in the London Borough of Lewisham shortly.

[Rockets]

Does that mean that you get charged £2 for parking somewhere outside the bays and these bays (which I presume the cost is reduced to 50p), are they in addition to the ones the council are planning to install? Again, all well and good if people are actually using them and I am reminded that us Dulwich'ites are Southwark's greatest walkers so is there a demand? I know a lot of European cities are grappling with e-bike usage patterns - especially outside the main city centres.

[Bic Basher]

Does that mean that you get charged £2 for parking somewhere outside the bays and these bays (which I presume the cost is reduced to 50p), are they in addition to the ones the council are planning to install? Again, all well and good if people are actually using them and I am reminded that us Dulwich'ites are Southwark's greatest walkers so is there a demand? I know a lot of European cities are grappling with e-bike usage patterns - especially outside the main city centres.

 

Yes, so if you're in a Green Bay, which are areas that have large areas of pavements or an existing bay, such as the Barry Road/Underhill Road Scooter Bay, the rider is charged 50p rather than £2 to park there.

I have no idea of whether this is part of Southwark's grand plan, but I know from experience that the Lime bikes are heavily in demand here. I can park a Lime bike and it's gone sometimes minutes after parking outside my flat.

HumanForest I believe are one of the micromobility companies that have permission from the council to leave bikes within the borough, the fact they're allowed to leave bikes on the Lordship Lane Estate shows they also have a relationship with the Housing dept. (I think there's another one on the Kingswood Estate too)

Surprisingly there isn't a Green Bay to serve the LL shopping area, but there is one on the corner of DKH and Quorn Road to serve East Dulwich Station and Sainsbury's along with the residential area green bays scattered across SE21 and SE22.

[Bic Basher]

While Southwark Council is allowing e-Scooters to clutter pavements, Paris held a referendum where 90% of voters decided to scrap rental e-scooters.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65154854

[Spartacus]

While Southwark Council is allowing e-Scooters to clutter pavements, Paris held a referendum where 90% of voters decided to scrap rental e-scooters.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65154854

 

If it goes ahead you can bet that the operators will look to other markets to unload their e scooters. London is only a short ride away 🤔

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

HumanForest I believe are one of the micromobility companies that have permission from the council to leave bikes within the borough, the fact they're allowed to leave bikes on the Lordship Lane Estate shows...

 

You don't need permission from the council to park bikes in Southwark. It's not regulated.

[Mint choc chip]

The companies are to blame, the issues were really bad in China with them being littered everywhere. They’re not regulated so they can just dump them anywhere.

I hope the get abolished and instead they extend the Santander bikes outside of London city.

[Spartacus]

This morning I almost couldn't get along Barry Road due to a massive cluster of hire bikes abandoned on the corner near Upland Road.

It felt like a cycle version of a hells angel film with the bikes parked outside a gang den 🤣

[tedfudge]

I find these bikes a nuisance, i live on Barry road and most days I get home from work in the morning and some idiot has put these lime bikes outside my house blocking the pavement for wheelchair users and buggies , even while I'm driving you see them left in dangerous positions on the road etc , there have been a couple of incidents where they have been lined up across the road on a bend .. then there are people who get on them while drunk and weave all over the road which I've seen so many times , i thought that if you ride the e scooter from lime etc you had to have a driving licence but I've seen so many youngsters racing each other on them and skidding about all over the place , I've also witnessed people that struggle to ride bikes riding them and wobbling over road being a danger to themselves and others, I know they are helping the environment with pollution etc so I fully understand and agree with having them but there must be away for the riders of these scooters and bikes to be fined if being irresponsible while using or parking them as they have trackers on them as a friend of mine who drives around collecting them has told me , before any tree huggers go on about cars and pollution I drive an electric van and so does everybody at the company that I work for...

[Spartacus]

Yesterday around the South circular I saw one of these bikes upside down standing on its handlebars and saddle.

I don't advocate doing the same as they appear to be rather heavy but it did amuse me. 

[Bic Basher]

I saw a Lime bike parked on the pedestrian crossing part of the junction of LL and Wood Vale this afternoon.   I hope the rider was fined for such bad parking.

St Francis Park (the park next to Sainsbury's) has also had bikes dumped on the grass.  Lime no longer allows bikes to park in there, nor Human Forest who have a Green Bay on the corner of Quorn Road and DKH.

Edited April 10, 2023 by Bic Basher

[Guest]

Quite a nice Dutch-style hire bike has been sitting on the pavement in front of my house for the past month.

Toying with the idea of taking it inside, finding how to remove the rear wheel lock, and claiming it as my own.   But I suppose there’s a tracker in it somewhere.  And besides, that would be theft!  And I have quite enough bikes already.

 

Maybe I could call the company and let them know that it is there.  Or is the company’s business model that the bike isn’t actually abandoned and is meant to stay there on the pavement until someone else in the area hires it?

[Bic Basher]

7 hours ago, alexander2022 said:

Quite a nice Dutch-style hire bike has been sitting on the pavement in front of my house for the past month.

Toying with the idea of taking it inside, finding how to remove the rear wheel lock, and claiming it as my own.   But I suppose there’s a tracker in it somewhere.  And besides, that would be theft!  And I have quite enough bikes already.

 

Maybe I could call the company and let them know that it is there.  Or is the company’s business model that the bike isn’t actually abandoned and is meant to stay there on the pavement until someone else in the area hires it?

That's the idea.  The micromobility apps let you see where they've been parked and then another customer hires it.    They can also detect how much battery is left so they can send a van to either collect the bike or change the battery.

[malumbu]

No such thing as having too many bikes Alexander, although stealing one is going to far!  I've a few liberated ones, dumped and left on estates/housing trusts and the like, but always needing time and money to get back on the road and my latest find is so worn out nothing is worth saving,  It's got a Bike Register number but can't believe in its state it will be wanted by the owner, who presumably dumped it in the first place, so once I have checked this it will go to a charity.  Sorry not relevant to Lime bikes etc.

(I know someone who works for various housing groups who has to remove dumped bikes from time to time)

[monica]

We had bikes left outside our place, on the pavement blocking pedestrians. They are a great idea, however the apps should guide the users on where to park the bikes.