Can cities meet the challenges of micro-transportation?
The authorities in London are increasingly clashing with rental e-bike companies, along the lines of the problems with e-scooters in Paris and Madrid, where City Hall complained that the companies that managed them were not restricting where they could operate, as they had agreed.
All three cities have seen a boom in e-bike use: in London, the number has grown from 27,694 in 2023 to 37,694 in March 2024, with several well-capitalized companies competing with dockless models that can be left anywhere. According to one Westminster councillor, “bicycles appear parked in the most incredibly stupid places”.
The companies do fine careless e-bike users, but complaints continue. Meanwhile, Transport for London (TfL), which coordinates all public transport in the city, is seeing a decline in the popularity of its distinctive Santander Cycles, sponsored by the Spanish bank, which must be picked up and dropped off at docks and can only be used in central London.
An e-bike dock costs around £200,000 to install and maintain. Does it make sense to compete with well-financed private operators that can easily replace or add vehicles, with a docked model? First of all, there are few complaints about docks, where bicycles are tidily lined up and out of pedestrians’ way.
