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100 hire bikes being fished out of London canals each year

Canal & River Trust says most hire firms fail to co-operate in recovering bikes

The Canal & River Trust says it is fishing 100 hire bikes out of London’s canals each year – but says that most companies who operate bike rental schemes do not co-operate in recovering the bikes.

The problem of hire bikes being dumped in canals has been highlighted just days after it was revealed that London Boroughs are considering fining bike hire companies £500 a time in a bid to tackle the problem of dumped bikes in the capital's streets.

The Canal & River Trust, which is responsible for some 2,000 miles of inland waterways in England and Wales, believes that the cheap cost of many hire bikes means there is little incentive for operators to tackle the problem, reports The Guardian.

It adds that the problem is repeated in other towns and cities that have bike hire schemes.

A Guardian journalist accompanied the Canal & River Trust’s Aidan Slater on the barge Hanwell to recover bikes dumped in the Regent’s Canal near King’s Cross, the expedition resulting in the recovery of more than 30 bikes – seven from the capital’s Santander Cycles scheme, 20 belonging to Mobike, and nine from Ofo, which no longer operates in the UK.

“There are so many more hire companies now, and the bikes aren’t docked, so that many more end up in the canal,” said Slater.

“It used to be mainly Santander bikes, but since they improved the security of the docking stations we get fewer of them now. The new generation of hire bikes can be left anywhere, so there’s an increasing likelihood of them ending up in the water.”

He said that having to retrieve the bikes took time away from other essential tasks, adding, “We could be doing things instead to improve the environment,” and pointing out that bikes abandoned in the canal could damage boats, leading to expensive repair bills.

Slater appealed for hire scheme operators to make greater efforts to assist with recovery of the bikes, saying: “We have to dispose of them at our own expense, which isn’t fair.”

He added: “If you leave a bike on the towpath, the chances are that someone is going to throw it into the water. I want the operators to listen. I’d tell them: inform your users not to leave bikes anywhere near water.”

Vandalism and theft were cited by Mobike as its reason for closing down its operation in Manchester and London last year, and it suspended activities in Newcastle and Gateshead earlier this year due to bikes being thrown in the River Tyne.

Canal & River Trust spokesman Joe Coggins commented: “We remove around 100 per year and that’s just in London. There are probably more than that being dumped – it’s really frustrating.”

Regarding most operators refusing to co-operate in recovering the bikes, he said: “We think it’s because they get their bikes so cheaply that it’s not cost-effective to cover the cost of their return.”

Richard Dilks, chief executive of shared transport trade bidy CoMoUK which previously operated as Carplus and Bikeplus, said he was willing to discuss the problem with the Canal & River Trust to attempt to find a solution.

He said: “No operator wants their bikes to end up in a canal. It sends the wrong message for all concerned and has a damaging visual impact on the reputation of the provider and shared bikes more generally.”

Lime, the electric bike hire scheme originating in California which launched in London earlier this year said it had been in touch with the Canal & River Trust over the issue, with a spokeswoman telling The Guardian: “We have marked out extensive no-parking-zones along all canals and rivers in London and fine users for parking bikes in these areas.”

The most recent entrant to the capital’s bike-sharing market was Uber-owned Jump, launching in Islington in May. Users who attempt to park the bikes in restricted areas such as The Royal Parks or on canal towpaths are sent a message and charged £25 if they fail to remove it.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

Avatar
brooksby | 5 years ago
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Do Tesco/Sainsburys/etc contribute to the costs of recovering shopping trolleys dumped in canals?  If they do, then the bike hire companies don't have a leg to stand on.  But if they don't...

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... replied to brooksby | 5 years ago
1 like

brooksby wrote:

Do Tesco/Sainsburys/etc contribute to the costs of recovering shopping trolleys dumped in canals?  If they do, then the bike hire companies don't have a leg to stand on.  But if they don't...

 

Apparently they didn't in 2009. 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4788011/More-than-3000-shopping-trolley...

Avatar
RoubaixCube | 5 years ago
1 like

Maybe The Canal & River Trust should get together with the government and charge the company £100 each and every time a one of their bikes are pulled out of the river. Im sure TC&RT would appreciate the extra funding in looking after our waterways. 

Avatar
ROOTminus1 replied to RoubaixCube | 5 years ago
2 likes

RoubaixCube wrote:

Maybe The Canal & River Trust should get together with the government and charge the company £100 each and every time a one of their bikes are pulled out of the river. Im sure TC&RT would appreciate the extra funding in looking after our waterways. 

A nominal £100 administration fee, plus the time charge of ~6 man-hours per bike at a rate of £30/h (decent wage + holiday + environmental hazard pay), plus the equipment hire and maintenance costs, plus the cost of proper disposal... call it  an even £350 per bike is still more than reasonable to charge back to the hire companies. And that's not even allowing for the increased public liability insurance costs of TC&RT from the increased risks these submerged bikes pose.

 

Butty wrote:

Reported as fly-tipped may focus thier minds on being environmentally responsible.

Oooh yeah, an Evironment Agency prosecution would definitely help sharpen their minds if it remains a persistent problem

Avatar
FluffyKittenofT... | 5 years ago
1 like

I wonder how many end up in the Thames?

Would often see bikes, usually child's ones, on the muddy banks up around Erith when I cycled that way. The sight always made me feel slightly sad.

(The equally common burned out motorbikes and mopods didn't produce the same emotional response!)

Avatar
Butty | 5 years ago
9 likes

Regarding most operators refusing to co-operate in recovering the bikes, he said: “We think it’s because they get their bikes so cheaply that it’s not cost-effective to cover the cost of their return.”

 

Reported as fly-tipped may focus thier minds on being environmentally responsible.

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