Many will take over existing resident bays

Electronic hire bikes have been parked inappropriately. Picture: Adam Goodchild

May 14, 2023

Details have now been published of where Hounslow Council intends to position bays for the deposit of e-Bikes as part of a new trial.

In all 45 parking bays across the Chiswick area will be repurposed for users of services like Lime to leave their bikes. There will be 56 points at which they can park the electronic bikes with the remainder on the footway, on single or double yellow lines or at sites were there are no existing parking restrictions.

The bays are spread throughout the W4 postcode area with the aim of insuring that there is always a place to leave a bike nearby. Users of e-bike services who fail to deposit e-Bikes within designated pays may be subject to a suspension of their use of the service. A full list of all the locations is given at the end of this article.

The council recently decided to participate in this trial which will allow companies to officially operate in the area. Previously, electronic hire bikes could be ridden within the borough but there was no formal arrangement between the council and the operators. The council says by entering into a formal arrangement with the operators it can raise revenue and more effectively encourage the companies to limit the obstruction caused by carelessly discarded bikes.

Under the proposed scheme from 16 May, the council will be introducing a first phase of bays across the Brentford and Chiswick areas, and this will include alteration of the existing road markings and, where necessary, removal of any existing parking bay signage.

Concerns have already been expressed that the use of designated bays will not be effective in reducing badly parked hire bikes as hacks have been developed to allow the machines to be used without paying. Lime has said in February that this was a limited issue and that it has developed a hardware solution but the distinctive clicking sound from a hacked bike that is being ridden without power can still be heard often around the Chiswick area. This kind of use is unlikely to end with the bike being left in a the offical bay and is believed to account for a significant proportion of the anti-social parking.

Implementation will start in Brentford where only 12 parking spaces are being lost across three wards and then from Monday 22 May the conversion of the Chiswick bays is set to begin. Completion will depend on factors such as the weather and the removal of vehicles parked in the designated zones.

The bays will be introduced in phases, starting in Brentford and Chiswick, and working westwards. The council says this is because the east of the borough is closest to existing e-bike operations in neighbouring boroughs. The intention is to expand westwards across the whole borough in due course.

Prior to these works starting, the council will be placing cones at locations where the bays are to be marked and installing temporary signage to identify that these bays are suspended whilst the works take place.

Should the work be on schedule it is anticipated that e-bikes will be positioned in the bays and will be available for hire from early June 2023.