Visitors put off by e-bikes in Coventry, group says

The number of e-bikes in Coventry has risen due in part to more delivery firms using them, a business group said



A rising use of electric bikes in a city centre is putting off people from visiting the area, a business groups says.

Areas for pedestrians in Coventry are being "infiltrated" by e-bike riders, the city's Business Improvement District (BID) said.

The group was responding to a consultation by the city council.

A crackdown in reaction to complaints about e-bikes was planned, the authority said.

A Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) is in place in the city centre banning activities including begging and inconsiderate skating and cycling.

The order runs out on 16 July and the authority's cabinet will decide on Tuesday if it wants to extend it for another three years.

The number of e-bikes being used in the city centre is increasing due in part to their use by food delivery firms, Lyndsay Smith, from the BID, said.

"This has resulted in pedestrianised areas being infiltrated by e-bike riders," she added.

There have also been more interactions between them and vulnerable road users and the group said it supported any measure to reduce a risk of injury.

"It has been highlighted that e-bike incidents heavily contribute to the reasons why some of Coventry's residents feel reluctant to visit the city centre to shop," Ms Smith added.

In a report for the cabinet, the manager of the council's city centre enforcement officers said dealing with the e-bikes was not easy.

With officers on foot, Simon Hutt said it was hard to tackle e-bikes being ridden at high speed, but added they were working with police to solve this.

Conditions in the current PSPO can be used to crack down on poor use of e-bikes, the authority said, and added there would soon be a communication campaign.

Illegal e-bikes would also be seized and disposed of, it added.

I can think of a dozen reasons why I'd rather not visit the city centre but oddly enough e-bikes is not one of them!

Ban on e-bikes and e-scooters in Coventry city centre gets the green light



A ban on e-bikes and e-scooters in Coventry's pedestrianised city centre will go ahead this month. It means anyone who doesn't dismount their e-bike or e-scooter in these areas and isn't exempt because of a disability could face a fine or prosecution.

The ban will come into force in two weeks' time (20 November) after it was signed off by the council's Cabinet yesterday (7 November.) The areas it will cover is Upper Precinct, Hertford Street, Broadgate square and most of the lower precinct and Market Way.

It comes after people contacted their councillors over the devices in the centre, said Cllr Abdul Khan, Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities.

Their main concern was people riding "too fast" and in a way which "made pedestrians scared for themselves, scared for the safety of their children," he told the meeting. Cllr Khan also clarified that e-scooters aren't allowed under law on any roads or public places, whereas e-bikes are allowed if they are under a certain speed limit.

He said: "Nothing in this report should be construed by anybody to take the view that we are suggesting in any way that e-scooters are legal, because they're not."

"I want to also make clear as well that nothing in this report affects the use of any disabled vehicles, and they should be able to be used by disabled people. They have an exemption in those cases," he added. "But in respect to all of these forms of transport, we're asking or advising everybody to use them in a manner which does not cause other pedestrians in the centre to be afraid."

The move comes in the form of an amendment to the city centre's Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) brought in to tackle anti-social behaviour in the centre - meaning the ring road and a small part outside it. See below for the full wording of the change.

Signs for where the ban is in force will be at pinch points and areas where cyclists park, and the council will also be contacting delivery people, the meeting heard.