By David Jones | Public Affairs and Policy Manager, Business Sydney | Mob: 0448 285 996
Business Sydney today backed the NSW Government’s plans to crack down on shared e-bike operations in the city.
Executive Director Paul Nicolaou said the dumping of bikes on city streets was causing widespread community concern.
“Based on years of close observation, Business Sydney concludes that when it comes to bike share there has been a failure on the part of operators and on the regulatory system,” Mr Nicolaou said.
“Operators have either lacked the back office capacity to support the system so that operational guidelines are met.
“Until now, there appears to have been a failure on the part of the regulatory system to ensure adherence to the guidelines.
“Too often we see bikes that have been discarded irresponsibly. Also too often the bikes’ luggage trays become receptacles for rubbish.”
Mr Nicolaou said the Government’s intervention was a welcome development.
Business Sydney supported the decision to establish a task force of 13 government agencies including NSW Police and the Department of Fair Trading.
The task force will tighten the regulatory framework covering bike storage, battery safety and compliance and trial geofenced e-bike parking stations.
“There is a place for innovative transport modes in the city including bike share,” Mr Nicolaou said.
“But the operators need to ensure that bike share clients act responsibly.
“Unfortunately there are too many examples where this is not happening and it is on display every day in the city.”
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David is a Walkley Award-winning journalist with a distinguished career spanning more than half a century in print, television and radio journalism, political and corporate affairs and high-level media relations including incident and issues management. Media Enquiries - David Jones M: 0448 285 996