Angry pedestrians have criticised Nottingham's new electric bikes which some have described as 'littering streets' as bad riders are threatened with fines and bans. Lime electric bikes, which can be rented on a pay-as-you-go basis, were launched across the city on Friday, April 14.
Operator Lime said users are required to take an 'end-trip photo' of how they park, with these being reviewed so warnings, fines, and bans can be issued to irresponsible riders who leave bikes outside of parking zones. But some local residents and a charity representing blind and partially sighted people have already raised concerns over how the new bikes are impacting the city.
Michael Dybala, 67, who lives in Bobbers Mill, recently came across a wall of the new e-bikes in St Peter’s Street, Radford. "It's been well-documented the number of problems e-scooters have created and these new e-bikes are compounding the problem. People are not responsible or thoughtful and they just abuse whatever is put before them," he said.
"It's the same behaviour with the bikes as there is with the scooters. Bikes will ride on the pavement as well, pavements are being squeezed and squeezed - where is the space for the pedestrians?
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"God help you if you were on a mobility scooter or blind trying to navigate past that. The fact there are no racks mean they are littering the streets like dead bodies"
Retired Richard Coope, 61, who lives in Mapperley Park, said he was shocked by a collection of the bikes on the floor off Mount Hooton Road, next to Forest Recreation Ground. On seeing the pile of e-bikes parked poorly near to the marked zone, Mr Coope said: "That is just totally wrong. I don't understand why they can't be kept in proper bike stands.
"To dump them like this is wrong. The majority of people that use these and the scooters I think are students, so I get why they're like that after a night out.
"I do not mind the idea of the bikes as long as people are responsible with them. But I don't think the way people treat them will change."
Maxine Spry, 37, who lives in New Basford and works for a social care charity, said: "For the people I work with street access is a really important issue.
"It is people's use of them that is the problem, they are a good idea. There's a lack of consideration for others from the people who park like this."
The consensus that inconsiderate parking would impact more vulnerable pavement users was echoed by Sarah Gayton, the street access campaigns co-ordinator for The National Federation of the Blind of the UK. "This will create the same problems as the e-scooters. Even if you put them back in a safe location, it doesn't stop other people from knocking them over," she said.
"Instead of making it more difficult to walk on the path, it should be made much safer and putting these bikes left anywhere on the pavement will not do that - blind people need all parts of the path really as some use the building line to navigate and some try to walk down the middle. It's a common known problem that these bikes cause dangers to people who can trip over them and also block access for people in wheelchairs.
"Who is going to police this behaviour? Nobody will because no one has the understanding of how people are affected by it."
Riders can use the Lime app to collect e-bikes at one of about 100 designated parking bays around the city. The company said it recognised the importance of keeping pavements accessible for all users.
It explained riders received guidance on how to properly park the bikes and that non-compliance would result in fines and eventually bans. Alice Pleasant, Public Affairs Manager at Lime said: “Lime understands the importance of not obstructing pavements and other shared spaces - it is vital that our service works for everyone sharing our streets.
"All of our e-bikes must be parked in designated parking bays, marked ‘P’ in our app. Our e-bikes must be picked up and dropped off in these designated areas, and all riders will receive detailed user information on compulsory parking bays, preferred parking zones and no-parking zones.
"All Lime users are also required to take an 'end-trip photo' of how they park. These photos are reviewed, with non-compliant users warned and fined for mis-parking. Fines start at £2 for the first offence, and escalate to £20 for the fifth offence under our progressive discipline policy. After this point, the rider will be permanently banned from our service. Based on the other cities we operate in, on average 80 per cent of users do not reoffend following their first fine.”
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