Sydney to get parking zones for shared ebikes in bid to stop ‘wild west scenes’ of blocked footpaths

Shared ebikes cluttering Sydney footpaths will be kicked to the kerb in the coming months under funding to establish marked parking bays, the New South Wales government says. On Tuesday, the state government announced $6.6m in funding for Sydney local councils to nominate and paint dedicated parking areas. Each council will be given up to $200,000. Operators are paying for the Sharing Scheme Grant Program through a 60 cent fee on each shared ebike trip. When the program was first announced last year , operators including Lime suggested the levy would probably be integrated into existing management fees for ebike users. The number of shared ebikes in Australia has quadrupled in less than two years, with the vast majority in Sydney. The city’s ebike fleet has surged from 13,000 in January to more than 20,000 in May, according to Transport for NSW. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email The NSW transport minister, John Graham, said while the growth of shared schemes was a positive development, “we are not willing to stand around and let the wild west scenes … go on any longer”. “Pedestrians have been crying out for order and for their footpaths back.” The government says the funding is for the 16 councils which now host shared e-bike schemes, to deliver marked bays on streets and kerbside zones “in the areas of most conflict and complaint”. The NSW government announced $6.6m in funding for Sydney local councils to nominate and paint dedicated ebike parking areas. …