Agenda item

Report of the Director of Placemaking and Housing.  To be introduced by the Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment and Transport, and Deputy Leader of the Council.

The Leader introduced the report which set out the feedback on the community engagement exercise in relation to a dockless bike trial, and sough approval for the implementation of a trial scheme across the borough for up to 24 months.

In response to questions from Councillor da Costa, the following was noted:

-       Parking would be provided in marked bays at key locations in the borough, such as around high streets and transport hubs.  It was anticipated that the parking provision would increase over time in consultation with providers.

-       In terms of providers, an open procurement exercise was carried out, and an open approach had been taken with the contract, which would not preclude the Council working with an additional provider in the future.

RESOLVED to

1.            Note the responses received as part of community engagement on a future planned dockless bike trial in Haringey, as set out in Appendix A;

2.            Approve the implementation of a Haringey Dockless Bike Hire Scheme, on a trial basis for a period of up to 24 months, consistent with the Haringey Approach outlined in this report;

3.            Approve the Council entering into formal agreements with Lime and Human Forest to deliver the Haringey Dockless Bike Hire Scheme, on a trial basis for up to 24 months, in accordance with CSO 8.03 (Tender Process) as permitted under CSO 9.07.1(c) (Award Process);

4.            Approve the principle of the making and consulting on traffic management orders to enable appropriate parking provision to be made for the Haringey Dockless Bike Hire Scheme including through the reallocation of on-street vehicular parking to on-street cycle parking consistent with reallocating road space in Policy 5 of the Walking and Cycling Action Plan (2022);

5.            Delegate authority to the Head of Highways and Parking to determine locations and details of parking for the Haringey Dockless Bike Hire Scheme, to propose and make necessary traffic management orders and to consider objections and then decide whether or not to confirm these, subject to compliance with relevant statutory requirements and in written consultation with the Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment and Transport and the Cabinet Member for Resident Services and Tackling Inequality.

Reasons for decision

The implementation of a trial dockless bike scheme is a key aim within the Greener and Climate Resilient Haringey section of the Haringey Corporate Delivery Plan 2022/23 and 2023/24 and would be in line with the Council’s adopted Walking and Cycling Action Plan (2022) and Transport Strategy (2018) which both support bike hire schemes as a means of creating alternative travel options to help reduce our reliance on cars reducing congestion, pollution and injuries on the borough’s roads.

The Council has engaged extensively regarding a trial dockless bike scheme, including with Transport for London, London Councils and other London boroughs to understand best practice and to learn lessons from other schemes (primarily through the London Micro-mobility Working Group). In addition, the Council held a dedicated community engagement in early 2023 seeking views from residents, businesses and other stakeholders on how a future trial scheme should be tailored best to suit local needs. Having regard to feedback received, a Haringey Approach to a dockless bike trial was developed (as set out in Section 9 of this report) with a view to enabling the rollout of dockless bikes across the entire borough in a way that maximises the potential benefits of dockless bikes while minimising any potential negative impacts.

A competitive procurement exercise was carried out in accordance with Council procurement guidelines. The outcome of this was that two operators (Lime and Human Forest) demonstrated they are able to deliver the Haringey Approach required by the Council and the Council is therefore seeking to enter into formal agreement with them as part of a Haringey Dockless Bike Hire Scheme to be implemented on a trial basis for up to 24 months.

At least one dockless bike operator is already operating within parts of the borough. It does not need a dedicated licence to do this. While the Council is working proactively with that operator to maximise benefits and minimise negative impacts of its operations, there is a particular need to avoid and mitigate potential disproportionate impacts of dockless bikes on key groups such as older people, disabled people and blind and visually impaired people. Versus the alternatives, the delivery of a managed trial which is subject to a formal agreement with the Council is considered to provide the best possible opportunity to address these. A Memorandum of Understanding will provide an explicit framework for greater co-operation between the Council and operators and will provide the Council with appropriate powers of enforcement should these be necessary to respond to poor performance of operators. An Equalities Impact Assessment (EqIA) of the Haringey Dockless Bike Hire Scheme (Appendix B) has shown that versus the current situation the scheme has potential to advance equalities for many protected groups, albeit with the need for a careful strategy around mitigations and monitoring.

Alternative options considered

At least one dockless bike operator is already privately operating within parts of the borough. In this context, the alternative options available to the Council are:

Option 1: ‘Do Nothing’, which would allow dockless bike operators to operate privately within the borough with minimal interference from the Council and without being subject to a formal managed trial. This option would support sustainable travel (although not to a full extent) and would require limited Council resources to support but would not effectively minimise negative impacts of bikes which are abandoned or obstructive (with potentially greater impacts on certain protected groups such as older people and disabled people) and would risk Haringey Council being seen as unresponsive to complaints and community concerns. This option was discounted as it would not maximise the benefits of dockless while minimising negative impacts as far as possible.

Option 2: Request dockless bike operators to cease operating within the borough. This option would reduce obstructive and abandoned bikes and eliminate potential negative impacts on certain protected groups. However, this option is not possible to enforce as there is currently no regulation which grants local authorities power to prohibit private operators from operating without permission. Furthermore, this option risks the Council achieving its strategic objectives around sustainable travel and may discourage and disadvantage Haringey residents and visitors if provision is removed.

Option 3: Take a part-managed approach by working with existing operators to support and maximise benefits of their operations and minimise the impacts e.g. through ongoing liaison with them and communication with Haringey residents and visitors. This is the current approach being employed by the Council. However, it is considered that a fully managed approach in accordance with the Haringey Approach and subject to formal agreement between the Council and operators would deliver the greatest benefits whilst minimising negative impacts.