Council to cap e-bike fares and charge carriers £80 to collect badly parked cycles

Lime is currently the main operator in Hackney. Photograph: Josef Steen / free for use by LDRS partners

Hackney Council is set to cut e-bike journey prices and charge hire companies £80 to collect every bicycle parked dangerously on its streets.

The Town Hall has told firms bidding to operate the borough’s electric bike-sharing scheme for at least the next three years that it wants trips capped at £1.75 – the same as a bus fare.

The two successful bidders for the estimated £93m contract will also have to pay £80 to recover any e-bikes that the council impounds due to unsafe or obstructive parking.

Earlier this month, cabinet member Cllr Sarah Young set out the proposals as part of the council’s vision for a “fair, safe, accessible, equitable and sustainable” transport system.

The Town Hall said the policies would “further push the private sector to innovate in key areas” while allowing it to monitor cycle parking.

By the time the new contract begins in October, the council plans to have created over 1,000 new designated spaces for dockless e-bike parking, which will be managed “much more stringently”.

Residents will also have access to a wider variety of bikes, including lighter models.

Frizzante’s Eddy Ambrosi. Photograph: Josef Steen / free for use by LDRS partners

Most e-bikes in Hackney are currently provided by Lime.

Beryl offers an e-cargo bike hire services to residents, who can also access Transport for London’s Santander cycles.

Locals were asked to weigh in on how the scheme has panned out in the borough.

Eddy Ambrosi, who owns Frizzante restaurant at Hackney City Farm in Haggerston Park, supported the efforts to “get greener” but pressed the need for more designated bays.

“At the moment it’s a bit of a Wild West,” he said.

Ambrosi pointed to the issue of “messy” Lime bike parking on the pavements.

“People aren’t responsible,” he said. “The shame is that it is also easy to steal [these bikes], and because of this Hackney is one of the most noisy areas because of the beeping.

“Sometimes people don’t think about it when they just shove it on the floor – it could get in the way of someone with a disability.”

Clothes shop Lookers in Hackney Central. Photograph: Josef Steen / free for use by LDRS partners

The problems of parking and low-level crime were also raised by Sadiya and Amina Shaikh, who help run their family-owned clothing business, Lookers, in one of Hackney’s busy shopping districts.

“It’s a great high street, but it’s got worse with youngsters on e-bikes,” Amina said.

“They’re okay, but people don’t know how to drive them. They expect you to move out of the way and park it wherever they want,” said Sadiya, who complained of cycles being “dumped” outside their shop front.

“Someone nearly fell off one once, right outside, and it nearly broke the window. They just walked off.”

Amina suggested riders should pay recovery costs for badly parked bikes.

“Maybe not £80, but slightly cheaper – more in line with the cost of living,” she said.

Both sisters added that size was also a factor, along with the hire bikes being used by “a lot” of phone snatchers riding up the street.

Lime, Forest Bike and Tier, which operate either in Hackney or nearby boroughs, were approached about the council’s proposals. The firms either declined to comment or did not respond.