Lime and Forest have been warned over the number of hire bikes abandoned by their customers in the Greenwich Foot Tunnel.
Greenwich Council’s cabinet member for transport, Calum O’Byrne Mulligan, said that if they did not address the situation, it would “bring into question whether or not they are fit to operate in our borough”.
Abandoned bikes have been a regular sight in the tunnel for some years, a problem exacerbated by regular lift breakdowns.
Lime and Forest have signed agreements with Greenwich over the use of the bikes in the borough which forbid them from being taken into the tunnel, which leads from Cutty Sark Gardens to Island Gardens on the Isle of Dogs.
O’Byrne Mulligan told the transport scrutiny panel on Thursday: “We’ve said we’ll work with them to create additional parking bays around each end of the tunnel. We can speak to Tower Hamlets Council [on the north side] but we can do it on the south side.
“Users can pause their ride and then recommence it, having walked through the tunnel, so we’re hoping to see more progress on that in the future.
“If they do not demonstrate willingness to work with us on that, then it does bring into question whether or not they are appropriate to operate in our borough.”
There are no London-wide rules for dockless hire bikes, so provision varies across the capital, with bikes often left at borough boundaries or at the edge of each company’s area. Last year, backbench Labour councillors in Greenwich even threatened to ban Lime because of the number of bikes blocking pavements before an agreement was signed.
New laws mean TfL will be able to license companies and O’Byrne Mulligan said that councils were working together on a London-wide approach.
Greenwich has been rolling out parking bays for the bikes this summer, but only so far in the northwest of the borough. Lime and Forest have agreed to abide by these. A further consultation on more bays in other areas is to come soon.
Tower Hamlets has no agreement with the bike companies.
Labour councillor Lewis Hurst said that bikes were being abandoned at the borough boundary in Lee Green as the companies operate across Lewisham, but not in that part of Greenwich. Lime and Forest only operate west of Charlton and north of Blackheath.
O’Byrne Mulligan said that there was a similar issue at Deptford High Street with Voi users leaving their bikes at the borough border as that company did not operate in Greenwich.
“We are committed to working towards expanding the areas of operation of the dockless e-bikes because they are a really important part of our transport,” he said.
“Around half of London’s under-35s use them at least once a week. I actually think it’s in some of those places further out that we can see some of the real benefits from having this service, because it could turn what was a half-an-hour walk to a train station into five or ten minutes on an e-bike. So I do think there is tremendous potential there for us to help with that modal shift.
“But they are not expanding until parking bays are in place.”
Lime told The Greenwich Wire: “We never want our e-bikes to get in anyone’s way. We communicate clearly in our app that the Greenwich foot tunnel is a no-ride and no-parking zone. Users who break our rules will be fined and banned from using our service. Our on-street team also regularly removes our bikes from the tunnel, with the majority of vehicles being moved within hours of being reported.”
A Forest spokesperson said: “We are aware that there was an incident last month where a high number of shared e-bikes were left in the Greenwich Foot Tunnel, and we appreciate the frustration this will have caused for users of the tunnel.
“We take irresponsible parking of this kind very seriously, and our on-street team worked quickly to redistribute the bikes and clear the area. This area is not a designated parking zone, and anyone who abandons their ride there will receive a fine for not complying with our parking rules, which are clearly set out within our app.
“We’re ready to work closely with the council to ensure there is sufficient parking in the borough to meet the growing demand for e-bikes in Greenwich, and make sure our service works for everyone.”
Lime said badly-parked bikes could be reported through its app or by emailing london-ops[at]li.me; badly-parked Forest bikes can be reported by scanning a QR code on the handlebars.
O’Byrne Mulligan also said that work to fix the Woolwich Foot Tunnel’s lifts had begun and he hoped that both would be finished by the end of the year, although he warned the date could slip. He added that there were quarterly meetings with Tower Hamlets and Newham councils as well as TfL about fully refurbishing both foot tunnels.
❤️ Get better local news on your phone. Add The Greenwich Wire as a preferred source on Google.
📩 Follow The Greenwich Wire on Bluesky, Facebook, LinkedIn or Threads. You can also sign up for WhatsApp alerts – or subscribe to our emails through the blue box above.
You must be logged in to post a comment.