London’s Cluttered Pavements Are A Chronic Issue, Report Finds
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This is the sub-heading.
Central London has “chronic issues” with street clutter, making it a worse place to live, visit and work in, a think tank has warned.
And this is the first paragraph.
A-boards, disused phone boxes and rubbish bags all make pavements unwalkable, especially for those who are mobility or sight impaired.
As someone, who was stopped from driving because of bad eyesight, I’ll agree with that paragraph.
But the biggest clutter are hire bikes just left anywhere in the middle of the pavement.
How do we stop idiots doing this?
This problem is one, where we need sensible action from the Mayor.
One of my criteria, in who gets my vote at the next Mayoral election, will be what they will be doing about street clutter.
Bikes left in places, where they shouldn’t be is easy to solve.
Transport for London should have a few trucks picking up bikes, that have been left in illegal places.
The hire companies would then need to pay an appropriate fine to get the bikes back.
I would also allow private individuals and companies to collect illegally-parked bikes. It could be a nice little earner.
The Anonymous Widower 
I believe private hire bikes are a local council rather than a TfL responsibility. Hopefully other councils will follow Westminster’s lead in requiring private hire bikes to be parked in approved bays. The hire companies will continue charging their customer until the bike is parked in a designated bay.
Comment by JohnC | October 18, 2023 |
Those Lime bikes amaze me they are electric so must be a few grand each yet operator seems not bothered about their assets just chucked down on the pavement
Comment by Nicholas Lewis | October 18, 2023 |
Just looked up Lime. They seem to have run into lots of controversy in the USA with local authorities issuing many ‘cease and desist’ letters. According to London’s Code of Practice for dockless cycles, the ‘Highway Authority’ (TfL are responsible for A roads and the boroughs take care of their local roads) is supposed to get the bike owners to remove errantly ‘parked’ cycles removed within two hours at the cost of the operator; but how do Local Authorities/TfL know unless the public tell them. It seems to me that this Code of Practice is inadequate and things need tightening up.
Comment by fammorris | October 18, 2023 |