Transport for London (TfL) and London Councils are reportedly seeking to put in place a pan-London micromobility scheme for both e-bikes and e-scooters, that would mean consistency of scheme design/rules, tighter controls, improved parking compliance, better user behaviour and improved safety.
The contract is likely to become operational by early 2026, according to Hounslow Council documents that have been shared on X (Twitter).
The proposed TfL contract will cover both forms of micromobility but with a “slant towards e-bikes”. There will be a mandatory parking approach across London, with a London-wide fleet cap.
“It will take many of the learnings from the existing TfL e-scooter trial and borough operations, but there would be a dedicated TfL team to manage the contract and operations, plus a data solution to independently verify data,” the document said.
TfL’s e-scooter trial is currently operated by Voi and Lime, but Voi recently said it may have “no option” other than to withdraw from the trial as it “cannot compete” with the capital’s rental e-bikes, which are “unregulated with e-bike companies able to deploy as many bikes as they like, wherever they like”.
Dott also blamed the “rapid and unregulated rise of e-bikes” for its decision to take its e-scooters out of London earlier this year. The operator had previously also removed its e-bikes from the capital.
Chief executive Henri Moissinac said: “London is the only place where you have two modes side by side - one regulated by TfL, the e-scooters, and the other that is totally out of control, that is the e-bike.” He also said Dott would, “100% support TfL in running a combined scheme - both scooters and e-bikes, and the same geofence for both modes and the same rules for all operators.”
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A key condition of the new scheme would be that boroughs must introduce e-scooters in at least part of the borough. Hounslow says this would mean converting a proportion of existing e-bike bays into shared use bays with e-scooters.
If the borough chooses not to join, its existing e-bike scheme would be rendered “unviable” as, “cross borough boundary trips would be prohibited due to operational constraints”.
A recent report commissioned by Lime has called for increased parking provision in London, saying a higher density of parking bays should be available in areas such as commercial centres, transport hubs, and high streets.
It identified more than 750 parking locations across 11 boroughs which it says can provide additional parking capacity for up to 10,500 shared e-bikes.
