E-bike 'wild west' facing $6.6 million crackdown

The “wild west” era of the e-bike on NSW streets could be coming to an end with millions to be spent on parking bays and cleaning up the street clutter of abandoned share bikes.

The $6.6 million state government program, announced today, seeks to reduce the footpath clutter of shared e-bikes in Sydney and across the state.

“Shared e-bikes are a great, healthy, affordable way to get around, but the clutter is causing chaos,” Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Marjorie O’Neill said.

“Poorly parked shared e-bikes have been a pain point for too long, causing major safety concerns particularly for parents with prams, people with low or no vision, people with disabilities, and the elderly.”

Councils and other public authorities will be eligible for $200,000 grants from that fund to construct e-bike parking bays and improve rider behaviour.

This could include “no-go” and “go-slow” zones for shared and private e-bikes.

Councils will also be able to decide which bike-share operators can set up in their LGA.

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The new rules will roll out in stages, with Transport for NSW aiming to deliver 250 parking bays for 2500 share bikes by the end of the year.

It’s part of the NSW government’s long-running e-bike reform package, which has included reducing the maximum wattage on bikes and mandating pedal power, as well as a proposed age limit for riders.

The new program will be funded by operators, the government claims, through a 60-cent fee for every share bike trip.

So far, 16 councils have bike share schemes in place, including the City of Sydney, Inner West, North Sydney, Canterbury-Bankstown, Burwood, and Parramatta.

Transport for NSW is able to revoke an operator’s approval for failing to meet the minimum standards and issue penalties of up to $55,000 if they do not comply with a removal order, plus $5500 for each day the offence continues.

The government claimed a trial of parking bays reduced kicked-over bikes and blocked footpaths by half.

The NSW Government has trialled marked parking bays with considerable success in reducing kicked over bikes and blocked footpaths by half.

“NSW has embraced e-bikes and shared e-bikes, which is a good thing, but we are not willing to stand around and let the wild west scenes we inherited go on any longer,” Transport Minister John Graham said.

“We already know properly marked parking bays reduce kicked over bikes and blocked footpaths by half and now we want the 16 councils to provide them in the areas of most conflict and complaint.”

Transport for NSW Secretary Josh Murray indicated the program was not aimed at reducing e-bike use, but supporting their growth in popularity.

“Every day, more and more trips are taken on shared e-bikes across Sydney – they are now a regular and preferred transport choice for thousands of people,” he said.

“We know that more needs to be done to ensure that growth is well supported: people want and need better places to park, and communities rightly expect shared e-bikes to be better managed.”