Are councils responsible for the e-bike wild west in the city?

Independent, revenue-driven contracts between London councils and e-bike operators fragment cross-borough travel and inflate costs for riders without resolving pavement clutter. So will TfL s cross-London licensing scheme solve the problem? Asks Myra Stok Everywhere you look, there are e- bikes, littering pavements, stopping people in their tracks – sometimes literally. Councils have taken on a central role in the battle between public disgust at e-bike behaviour by cutting deals with operators themselves. Yet, the problems persist. This might be because councils aren’t incentivised to make your journeys better, or to reduce the burden dockless e-bikes pose to residents. A big claim, I know, beloved as they are. Virtually all 33 councils in London take independent approaches to dealing with dockless e-bikes. Nine councils have no e-bike schemes whatsoever, with Waltham Forest currently operating under an eight year ban. Of the remaining 24, there are a mixture of agreements,