The Director of Strategy and Innovation at Transport for London is calling for new rules to stop dockless e-bikes just being dumped on pavements.

Thomas Ableman told the London Evening Standard newspaper: “No one wins from the situation that exists now. The situation is confusing for users, and that doesn’t help operators’ businesses either.”

The paper says Transport for London wants e-bikes to be regulated in a similar way to the e-scooters that can be hired under a government-backed trial. It says this would tackle the chronic problem of e-bikes being abandoned on pavements and roads, either because the schemes are badly managed or because “geo-fencing” causes the bikes to stop when they cross an invisible boundary.

Mr Ableman said: “The e-bike market is entirely unregulated. Where we would like to get to is a situation where the lessons we have learned from the e-scooter trial, to make it non-invasive and safe, can be applied to the e-bike market.”

(File picture – Yay Images)