Kingston council has scrapped two e-bike contracts that would have brought up to 500 bikes to Kingston and Sutton, citing financial concerns.
The decision to abandon the three-year contracts with HumanForest and Voi was never publicly announced, despite being approved in June. The schemes proposed to bring new bikes to both boroughs at the start of September.
The three-year agreements, with the option to extend, would have earned each operator £3.94 million across a five-year period.
The e-bike providers would have been expected to pay the council up to £90,000. However a £3 million deal signed in Richmond earlier this year allowed Forest to replace Lime as the borough’s sole operator.
Harry Foskin, Voi’s senior public policy manager, said: “I can completely understand why a council in Kingston thinks it’s an untenable position for Kingston Council to receive a fee that’s probably dwarfed by the fee that Forest are paying over the border in Richmond.”
He suggested the Richmond deal could set a precedent for what other councils could expect from e-bike operators.
Kingston Council said that it would not finalise the contracts after reviewing the “wider financial landscape and market position” and deciding that “the requirement as originally designed no longer aligns with the revised commercial position.”
A spokesperson said: “Following a review of how e-bike hire schemes were operating elsewhere in London, it was clear that the market had moved on at pace since starting the procurement process.”
It comes after Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport met to discuss a new regulatory framework for licensing dockless hire e-bikes.
The meeting examined the currently unregulated system, in which decisions are made borough by borough, leading to different operators, parking rules and agreements across London.
New city-wide regulation is expected within the next two years. Under the proposed framework, TfL is expected to take on a greater role in regulating operators, including setting fees.
Foskin said: “I think these boroughs effectively realize that once this regulation comes in two years’ time, they’re no longer going to be the ones who are setting fees for operators.
“I think that there are boroughs at this moment in time that are thinking, we’ve got 18 months, two years maximum, to make as much money from e-bike operators as we can.”
Kingston Council said wider regulatory changes were not a direct factor in its decision. A spokesperson said: “London-wide moves around regulation – which requires further legislation – was not a direct factor in our decision.”
Foskin added that new agreements weren’t commercially viable for the period before TfL steps in.
Dr Will Norman, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, said: “I think it’s a mess.”
“I speak to the Mayor, the Department for Transport, people on the ground, disability groups, cycling groups, you name it; everybody thinks this is not working.
“That is why this regulatory framework that we’ve now got is so long overdue.”
HumanForest’s head of policy, Alex Berwin, said: “Ultimately we want greater consistency across the market and we want to see a framework that is fair and accessible for all our users and for all Londoners.”
Foskin said: “There are 33 different boroughs, 33 different sets of rules, 33 different agreements or contracts.
“Some boroughs have different combinations of operators. Some boroughs have different parking models. There is no consistency for users.”
The specific terms of TfL regulation are still unknown. The proposed framework is expected to introduce more consistent standards for operators, including rules on parking, safety and accessibility.
TfL is also expected to take centralised control of operator fees and allocate funds to boroughs, although the precise arrangements have yet to be confirmed.
Operators and councils such as Kingston and Sutton hope the new framework will provide greater consistency in licensing agreements and allow e-bike services to expand as demand grows.
Featured Image Credit: Ruth Cullen.
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