Fancy grabbing a bike, riding it across the borough and leaving it at the other end? Waltham Forest Council wants to know what you think about that, because it is proposing to bring a dockless e-bike hire scheme to the borough — and the consultation is open now.
Dockless hire bikes are the ones you unlock with an app and park at the end of your journey rather than returning to a fixed docking station. Across London they are already a familiar sight: the council points to around 150,000 e-bike trips being made every day in the capital.
Waltham Forest is not starting from scratch here. The borough already has nearly 60 kilometres of cycle lanes and more than 1,000 bike hangars for residents to store their own bikes in. A hire scheme would sit alongside that, giving people who do not own a bike — or who only need one for a single leg of a journey — another way of getting about.
Cllr Paul Perkins, Leader of Waltham Forest Council, said: "Greener and more convenient travel for our residents is at the heart of what we want to deliver." He added that the council is committed to "delivering a safe and convenient scheme that works for everyone, whether you're a cyclist or not".
That last phrase is worth pausing on, because it is the crux of the consultation. Dockless bikes affect people who never ride them — anyone who uses a pavement, pushes a buggy or navigates the street with a wheelchair or a white cane has a stake in where these bikes end up being parked. The council is asking cyclists and non-cyclists alike.
How to take part
There is a borough-wide survey online at talk.walthamforest.gov.uk/dockless-e-bikes-engagement, where you will also find a set of frequently asked questions about how the proposed scheme would work.
If you would rather say your piece in person, the council is running face-to-face feedback sessions at local events and venues around the borough.
The council also notes that Waltham Forest has seen significant air quality improvements in recent years, including a fall in nitrogen dioxide levels — the kind of gain that schemes like this are meant to build on.
Consultations like this one genuinely do shape what gets built. If you have a view on where the bikes should be parked, how many there should be, or whether you want them at all, this is the moment it counts.
