An inner-Melbourne council will no longer allow shared e-bikes, saying operator Lime refused to take responsibility for dumped bikes.
Yarra Council, which covers suburbs including Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy, voted on Tuesday night to end a six-year trial of e-bikes and not award a permanent contract.
Lime was the only company to tender for the contract to run e-bikes in the municipality.
Yarra Mayor Stephen Jolly said the council made the decision with “a heavy heart”, but was unable to persuade Lime to commit to taking more responsibility for the bikes.
“We’re getting too many e-bikes just dumped on our streets. That’s a cost to council as we have to clean up, the company doesn’t do it,” he told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“That makes the footpath much more difficult for people with prams and wheelchairs and all the rest of it.
Stephen Jolly says Lime did not take enough responsibility for retrieving dumped e-bikes. (ABC News: Leanne Wong)
“They said, ‘No, we can’t help’ and we had no choice but to say, ‘Well, unless you come to the party, we’re not going to give you this tender.'”
Council officers reported they had responded to about 100 complaints made about e-bikes since the start of the trial in 2020.
Most of the complaints related to dumped bikes, users riding on footpaths and users speeding, riding without helmets and tandem riding.
“If I had a dollar for every photograph I’ve been sent from a resident of a dumped bike I’d be richer than I am right now, I’ll tell you that,”
Cr Jolly said.
Yarra Council received about 100 complaints about e-bikes during the six-year trial of the scheme. (Supplied)
Deputy Mayor Sharon Harrison supported the motion to end the e-bike trial, telling last night’s meeting that Lime “demonstrated that it cannot or will not manage its operations so that community members are safe on Yarra’s streets”.
She said Lime was getting “a free ride” when it was left to the council to retrieve dumped e-bikes.
“They’ve been given every opportunity to clean up their act and improve their game but I see no evidence of this happening,” she said.
“Why would we enter into an agreement for an e-bike share scheme with a multinational company which is effectively corporate cost-shifting onto Yarra’s ratepayers?”
According to data presented to the council, there were an average of 201 trips per day on e-bikes in the Yarra council area.
The data said about 90 per cent of the users were from the local area.
Councillor Sarah McKenzie urged the council not to give up on an e-bike share scheme, saying the idea had merit.
“I know the scheme isn’t perfect, there are some issues with it, but I don’t think that is a good enough reason to cease this now,” she said.
“I think that we should give it another go and re-look at some of those terms.“
Lime operates e-bikes in a number of countries around the world. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
Jeremy Lawrence from Streets Alive Yarra spoke at the meeting.
He said the council should do more to make an e-bike scheme work, including bike corrals “in every street, just as there’s a car park in every street”.
“Many residents in Yarra use share-bikes, particularly those who are younger or those who aren’t wealthy enough to own and operate a car,” he said.
“We believe the streets are for everyone and we should be supporting people to use the mode that best works for them.”
Yarra resident Christine Maynard spoke against the scheme at the meeting, saying some e-bike users “drive like maniacs and then dump them somewhere for us as ratepayers to pick up”.
“I’m sick of them on the footpath,” she said.
“At the end of the day, they are a hazard and I will be glad if we do get rid of them totally and the people who are utilising them don’t have the opportunity to do so.”
Lime has been approached for comment.
