Decision details

Moved by Councillor Worling, seconded by Councillor Miller -

It is resolved that:

(A)      Council note:

(i)         the City of Sydney has seen 96% increase in share bike trips this year, which has contributed positively to sustainable transport and reduced emissions:

(a)       there are around 7,000 share bikes in our area at any one time currently, serving around 13,000 trips per day just within our council area;

(b)       between January and September this year, there were almost 2.5 million share bike trips in our area; and

(c)       the uncontrolled parking of share bikes in parks and green spaces has led to clutter, safety concerns for pedestrians and reduced amenity for park users;

(ii)        geofencing 'digitally demarcates' where share bike users can log-off their trip or where share bike power assistance cuts out at lower speeds. It is a powerful tool to help manage appropriate share bike parking and speeds; and

(iii)      some share bike operators have already used geofencing to establish ‘no parking’ in some parks, but this has been on an ad hoc basis and the absence of geofencing controls has resulted in some share bikes being left in inappropriate locations and ridden too fast in some parks;

(B)      Council further note that:

(i)         the Lord Mayor has been raising concerns and calling for the NSW Government to introduce share bike regulations since they first appeared on our streets in 2017; and

(ii)        Council has welcomed the introduction of the Road Transport and Other Legislation Amendment (Micromobility Vehicles and Smartcards) Bill 2025, but as the timeframe for the NSW Government to develop Regulation is unknown, the City needs to take steps to safeguard the amenity and safety of parks in the face of a rapid jump in share bikes use; and

(C)      the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:

(i)         identify relevant additional parks within the City:

(a)       where share bike parking should be restricted using geofencing;

(b)       that have shared paths where share bikes should be geofenced to require slower speeds; and

(c)       that require designated bike parking areas to provide for the more orderly parking of shared bikes;

(ii)        write to the 3 share bike companies that currently operate in the City (Lime, Ario and Hello Ride) to request that they geofence areas within their apps so that:

(a)       users cannot log off their share bike trip in parks specified by City staff, unless they have designated bike parking areas in them; and

(b)       power assistance of share bikes cuts out when the bike is going more than 10 km/h on shared paths in parks; and

(iii)      provide updates to Council through the CEO Update on the parks proposed for geofenced shared bike parking restrictions and ‘go slow’ zones, and the response from share bike companies to the City’s request.

Carried unanimously.

X113756