Decision details

Moved by Councillor Chung, seconded by Councillor Forster -

It is resolved that:

(A)      Council note:

(i)         in December 2017, six inner-city municipal councils released a set of guidelines to outline the minimum standards and expectations for dockless bike share operations in Sydney;

(ii)        the bike share operations were due to be reviewed after three months by the Council and relevant authorities to asses if these companies adhered to the minimum standards and expectations;

(iii)      a brief analysis of some of the guidelines would suggest that some bike share operators in the City of Sydney are not meeting their full obligations;

(iv)      consistent complaints and reports from residents in the City of Sydney indicate that there has not been a significant improvement with the management of dockless share bikes;

(v)       recent media outlets report that the Inner West Council and the City of Melbourne Council commenced enforcing penalty elements of the guidelines by impounding bicycles and charging dockless bike operators fees for some bikes left in dangerous and unsafe circumstances; and

(vi)      unlike the Inner West Council, the City of Sydney has not addressed the need to enforce stricter measures on bike share operations not adhering to the guidelines; and

(B)      the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:

(i)         take immediate action to strictly enforce the guidelines on dockless bike share operators and exercise the right to implement a fee or levy structure if operators fail to comply; and

(ii)        provide the Councillors with an update every three months on what action the City of Sydney has taken to enforce the dockless bike share guidelines.

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The above motion was not carried. The resolution as follows was carried.

It is resolved that:

(A)       Council note:

(i)      increasing cycling is supported under the City of Sydney's Sustainable Sydney 2030 Strategy and Cycling Strategy;

(ii)      share bike businesses in Sydney offer increased active transport options for residents and visitors, which helps ease pressure on roads and public transport;

(iii)     bike share operator data reveals there were on average 6,600 trips a day in January and February (390,000 trips) and 140,000+ users registered in the Sydney metropolitan area;

(iv)    the City supports the concept of bike share and recognises its potential to transform travel in our city;

(v)     the City led five other inner-city municipal councils in creating a set of guidelines that outline the minimum standards and expectations for dockless bike share operations in Sydney, which were released in December 2017;

(vi)    the bike share operations were reviewed for the period 22 December 2017 - 22 March 2018 by the Councils and relevant authorities to assess if these companies adhered to the minimum standards and expectations;

(vii)    major issues reported included bike parking, vandalism, helmet use and footpath riding;

(viii)   on 21 May 2018, the NSW Government announced it will give Councils enhanced powers to deal with dumped share bikes, through an enforceable code of practice under legislation to lift the performance of bike share operators that Parliament will consider later this year;

(ix)    the new code of practice will build on existing council guidelines and will set minimum standards for operators, including safety standards, appropriate bike parking, user education, data sharing and responding to complaints;

(x)     the new code of practice will also force operators and users to use designated parking areas, helping to address the issue of clutter; and

(xi)    in the absence of the proposed code of practice, the City of Sydney is addressing the issue of adhering to guidelines through education and collaboration with the operators; and

(B)     the Chief Executive Officer be requested to provide an update to Council, once the legislation is passed, outlining the steps the City proposes to take to implement the code of practice.

Carried unanimously.

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