Riders will be banned from abandoning e-bikes on busy town centre pavements in a South London borough under a new scheme.
Wandsworth Council will bring the ban into force once it has finished installing 111 parking bays for e-bikes across the borough, including Clapham Junction, Tooting Broadway, Tooting Bec, Wandsworth Town, Balham and Putney town centres.
The scheme aims to tackle inconsiderate e-bike parking in the borough, which blocks pavements for pedestrians. The council began installing the parking bays on June 20 and expects to complete the works in around four weeks.
The authority said e-bike parking will be banned on pavements in busy town centre locations once all the bays have been installed, while responsible ‘free-floating’ parking will still be allowed away from these hotspots and in quieter parts of the borough.
More e-bike parking bays are expected to be installed later in the year.
David Tidley, head of transport strategy at the council, said it supports the use of e-bikes as a ‘convenient travel option’ for residents and visitors, but that they cause issues when parked inconsiderately. He said: “They’re a clean and sustainable way of getting around and help to improve local air quality. We are really pleased that there have already been more than a million journeys made by e-bike in Wandsworth.
“But residents will know that there have been some challenges, with a small minority of riders abandoning bikes without any thought for pedestrians and local communities. These new bays will help riders to park in fixed town-centre locations and encourage considerate parking.”
