London’s e-bikes are out of control

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but rental electric bicycles are becoming a bit of a scourge in London. Unlike the old Boris bikes (can we still call them that?), they do not need to be docked, meaning that they are frequently abandoned on the pavement, to the annoyance of pedestrians.

Neither do they need to be left in designated parking zones, like e-scooters. More infuriatingly, their motors often cut out when you pass from one borough into the next, so they are often dumped on the border. Yes, seriously. 

The reason for this chaos is that while Transport for London (TfL) rules govern e-scooter hire, the e-bike market is so far unregulated. This has allowed a patchwork system to spring up under which different councils will award licences to their favoured companies, such as Dott, Lime or Human Forest.