Lime bikes 'constant menace' to London taxis as cabbies vent over 'unusable' ranks
London cabbies have vented their fury at e-bikes being parked on or next to taxi ranks 'despite being repeatedly told not to'. As a result, they have been left 'unusable'.
Problem areas include New Burlington Street in Central London, Berkeley Square in the West End and Rennie Street near Blackfriars. Alongside a photo of bikes in New Burlington Street, the X account London Taxi PR posted: "Another day and once again you've blocked a licensed London Taxi rank!! Do you not understand??? These ranks are for Taxis only, not your damn bikes!!"
The person behind the profile told MyLondon: "I've repeatedly communicated the fact that working licensed London Taxi Ranks are for Taxis only, black cabs, not for e-bikes or commercial vehicles to either be parked on or block access to. It's dangerous to customers, particularly those with disabilities mobility sight issues and also pedestrians.
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"Those who have wheelchairs or mobility issues need kerbside access and as you can see they are being forced into the road by Lime Bikes totally selfish actions. I've been in touch with local residents groups, Westminster Hub and local councillors to highlight the issues. Will continue to highlight this until the message gets through and they stop!"
One cabbie posted pictures of damage to their taxi. @baykeens wrote: "You've got to be kidding me. Your bikes has damaged my cab on the rank at Devonshire Square. These heavyweight bicycles have to be more regulated."
It is understood that Westminster Council identifies which of the bays are problematic, mainly according to how many complaints are received about them. Around 30 are considered to be the 'worst offending' bays, some of which are on the list due to the issues they cause at taxi ranks.
New bluetooth beacons to be introduced
Lime are introducing rangers at the most problematic bays to tidy bikes or take them elsewhere, and officials are expecting to start a trial using Bluetooth beacons, whereby customers won’t be able to finish their journey unless they are within five metres of the marker. Westminster Council is working with Lime to identify the most suitable sites for these beacons, and these will be installed as soon as possible.
Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Cabinet Member for City Management and Air Quality, said: "E-bike usage has grown hugely over the past year and it is vital that Lime and the other e-bike companies improve their day-to-day management of their bikes so that their riders do not obstruct the highway for other road users or park outside the over 360 e-bike parking bays we have designated across Westminster. Meeting the Lime Global Chief Executive enabled us to be very clear and direct on what improvements are needed as a matter of urgency.
"We hope that the steps outlined by Lime are effective in improving rider behaviour and e-bike parking, as well as keeping our pavements safe for pedestrians.”
Hal Stevenson, Director of Policy at Lime UK, said: “Cycling is now one of the most popular transport modes at peak travel times in London, helping to improve our air quality, reduce congestion and create a more connected and greener city. This is partly due to the increased use of shared e-bikes like Lime. We believe anything that encourages people out of cars, and onto more sustainable and active modes is net positive."
He added: "We understand that parking has become one of the most significant challenges facing our industry, particularly in busy areas where demand for e-bikes exceeds the space made available for parking and causes overcrowding. We recently increased our on-street team to tidy and move bikes in busy areas, and are working to fund and create additional parking bays around the city to tackle this. Car parking takes up a lot of the current space on-street - the equivalent of 10 Hyde Parks according to the Centre for London - and we'd like to see more space reallocated to cycling."
A Forest spokesperson said: "Forest is always proactively monitoring and ensuring our e-bikes do not cause obstructions to other road and footway users. We are aware there have been some issues in a small number of parking bays that are located near taxi ranks, and as a result these are now regularly visited by a member of our on-street Guardian team to tidy and redistribute Forest e-bikes. We also employ smart technology to improve user behaviour and have integrated AI into the parking photograph at the end of a user's ride which prompts the user to repark if the end ride location and positioning is not deemed suitable.
We will continue to work closely with all London boroughs to monitor and locate suitable spaces for more shared dockless parking bays by sharing information on popular routes, locations and areas which are frequently becoming congested."
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