Hackney sets bike hire enforcement rules

Bike Hire

The London borough of Hackney is formulating its own dockless bike hire enforcement policy, saying the proposed London-wide byelaw will take time to come to fruition and may not even be realised at all.  London Councils and Transport for London have been preparing a byelaw that would apply to dockless vehicles – including bikes as well as e-scooters if they are approved for use on Britain’s streets. The byelaw can only be introduced if each of London’s 32 boroughs and the City of London delegate powers for making it to London Councils’ transport and environment committee.

An officer report presented to the London Borough of Hackney’s cabinet last week said: “It is not clear if this delegation will be achieved. Even if the byelaw is supported by all boroughs it is likely to be some time before it is enacted.”

A London Councils spokeswoman told LTT this week: “We currently have 29 delegations and are waiting for the final four to be submitted following different internal governance procedures that each local authority needs to go through.”

Hackney entered into contracts with dockless bike operators Beryl and Jump last December. The companies are committed to only operating from designated parking areas. 

The council can remove bikes causing an obstruction and charge operators £80 for their retrieval.

Hackney cannot prevent other firms operating in the borough. “There is a need for this [enforcement] policy to apply similar principles and standards to manage bikes from other companies,” officers explained.

“While this policy is applicable to all operators, it is expected that the council will use the terms of its contract with authorised operators [Beryl and Jump] to enforce these standards, and this policy will allow the council the ability to apply similar standards to operators with whom the council does not have an agreement to operate in the borough.”