Minute by the Lord Mayor
To Council:
Share bikes are an important part of Sydney's
transport network. They provide a sustainable transport option and help reduce
reliance on cars. However, the rapid growth of share bike schemes has also
created ongoing challenges for people walking, people with disability,
businesses and residents, particularly where bikes are parked inappropriately.
I have advocated for stronger regulation of
share bike operators since 2017. We have called on the NSW Government to establish
a regulatory framework that caps share bike fleets and the number of operators
and that provides councils with enough funding for bike parking and staff
resources. We are also calling for the strengthening of parking enforcement
powers and making operators accountable for the impact of their services.
On 14 August 2026, the NSW Government
gazetted the Road Transport (General) Amendment (Micromobility Shared
Arrangements) Regulation 2026, establishing a statewide framework for the approval
and operation of share bike schemes. The new framework makes the NSW Government
responsible for Share Bikes in NSW and introduces a 2-stage process that
involves operators obtaining approval from Transport for NSW (TfNSW) and also
obtaining authorisation from Council before operating.
While the regulation provides Councils with
new powers to authorise operators and impose local rules (known as ‘Operator
Conditions’), many elements of the scheme remain centrally controlled by Transport
for NSW. The City remains concerned about:
·
Share bikes parking on
footpaths: The Regulation treats a share bike as being
parked in a Micromobility Parking Bay if it is within 3m of the bay boundary.
·
Enforcement: The regulations do not provide councils with effective enforcement
powers to address poor parking and share bike clutter on footpaths.
·
Funding: The City remains dissatisfied with the fee structure, where each share bike
trip generates $0.80 in funding from share bike companies, but only 25% of this
per-trip fee coming directly to councils.
·
Transport for NSW
overriding the City’s decisions: Although the City
can ‘authorise’ share bike companies to operate locally Transport for NSW can
still overturn those decisions. It is critical that decisions by Council about
share bikes in their area and are not overridden by the Transport for NSW.
Scope of Operator Conditions
The new NSW Government regulations allow Councils
to establish Micromobility Parking Bays and controls to share bike use, such as
Controlled Micromobility Parking Zones, which are areas where riders must use
designated Micromobility Parking Bays, no-go zones and go-slow zones. Councils
may also set a cap on the number of share bikes allowed in their area, and levy
the council component of the per-trip fee.
However, Transport for NSW determines
standard conditions, including certain parking rules and enforcement thresholds
that councils cannot amend. During the authorisation process, the City can
impose Operator Conditions specific to our area.
Accordingly, it is important that the City
adopts a clear and principled approach to developing Operator Conditions under
which operators can provide services but, considering the limited pathways for
enforcement provided in the NSW Government regulations. The City’s Operator
Conditions also need to maximise protection of amenity, access and safety on
our footpaths and in our public domain.
Principles for Operator Conditions
1. Keeping footpaths
clear, safe and accessible
Our first priority is ensuring that share
bikes do not create obstructions in the public domain.
·
Operator Conditions should be developed to:
·
ensure share bikes do
not obstruct pedestrian movement or accessibility by prioritising the needs of
people with disability, older people and other users of public space
·
require share bikes to
be parked neatly and upright
·
ensure bikes are parked in
Micromobility Parking Bays
·
prevent excessive
concentrations of share bikes in any one location
·
reflect the cap on the
number of operators and share bikes deployed in our area, nominated by Council
·
support the orderly
deployment of share bikes across the local government area.
2. Operators must be
accountable for the management of their assets and services
Share bike operators should bear full
responsibility for the management of their fleets and the impacts of their
services.
Operator Conditions should be developed to
require operators to:
·
respond promptly to
complaints and operational issues, so that the community has clear and simple
reporting avenues when things go wrong
·
maintain effective
customer service and a 24-hour contact point
·
actively monitor fleets
rather than relying on community complaints
·
remove or rectify poorly
parked, damaged or toppled bikes within a specified timeframe
·
be responsible for
educating riders and providing disincentives for poor behaviour
·
provide mechanisms for
the City to review their performance and take action where operators repeatedly
fail to comply with authorisation requirements.
3. Operators must use
technology and systems to prevent poor user behaviour
We expect operators to use available
technology and operational systems to prevent their share bikes causing
problems, rather than relying on Councils to enforce or merely responding after
the fact.
Operator Conditions should be developed to
require operators to:
·
use geofencing and other
technologies to support compliance with local parking and riding requirements
and penalise riders where necessary
·
enable topple detection
on all share bikes
·
promote responsible
riding in accordance with the road rules
·
control audible
notifications on share bikes and limit noise associated with management and
deployment of share bikes
·
support the
establishment of Micromobility Parking Bays, Controlled Micromobility Parking
Zones, no-go zones and go-slow zones
·
make parking requirements
clear to riders, to compensate for imprecise geofencing and when Micromobility
Parking Bays are not present
·
communicate with riders
to end trips only in authorised locations where applicable
·
encourage accurate
location technology that improves compliance and enforcement outcomes
·
support ongoing
innovation that improves safety, accessibility and public amenity.
4. Operator conditions
must be practical and enforceable
We want to ensure that conditions we set can be
effectively monitored and enforced and will deliver measurable improvements in
public space outcomes.
Operator Conditions should:
·
be drafted in
consideration of the limited enforcement pathways envisaged in the NSW
Government regulations
·
include clear
performance expectations
·
provide for regular
review of operator performance
·
be informed by
operational experience and community feedback
·
be informed by data
provided through the regulatory framework
·
be reviewed and refined as
the new regulatory framework matures.
Timeframe for implementation
Although the NSW Government gazetted the new
share bike regulations, many of the provisions that give practical effect to
the framework have not yet commenced. Transport for NSW advised that they
intend the full scheme to be operational by March 2027.
the Rt. HOn.
CLOVER MOORE AO hon. fraia
Lord Mayor of Sydney
Moved by
the Chair (the Lord Mayor), seconded by Councillor Worling –
It is resolved that Council:
(A)
note
the release of the NSW Government's new regulatory framework for share bike
schemes and Council’s long-standing advocacy for stronger regulation
(B)
note
that the regulations provide councils with the ability to authorise operators
and impose local Operator Conditions, while key aspects of the scheme remain
subject to Transport for NSW oversight and control
(C)
note
that the regulations are unclear and untested and Operator Conditions are
likely to require periodic adjustment
(D)
endorse
the following principles to guide the preparation of the City of Sydney’s Operator
Conditions for share bike operators:
(i)
keeping
footpaths clear, safe and accessible
(ii)
operators
must be accountable for the management of their assets and services
(iii)
operators
must use technology and systems to prevent poor user behaviour
(iv)
ensuring
local rules are practical and enforceable
(E)
the
Chief Executive Officer be requested to:
(i)
prepare
draft Operator Conditions reflecting the principles in (D) above and as
outlined in the subject Minute
(ii)
report to
Council on the initial draft Operator Conditions for endorsement in December
2026 prior to their finalisation, noting that the City will modify the Operator
Conditions in response to evolving challenges and opportunities and the Chief
Executive Officer will approve these changes via existing delegations
(F)
the
Lord Mayor be requested to write to the Minister for Transport, with a copy of
this Lord Mayoral Minute, outlining the principles that the City will use to
develop its Operator Conditions, and our remaining concerns with the NSW
Government’s regulations for share bike schemes.
Carried
unanimously.
S051491