A proposed blanket ban on the use of e-bikes in Coventry’s pedestrianised city centre will “bring unintended consequences” for active travel, discourage cycling, and “penalise responsible cyclists”, the West Midlands’ walking and cycling commissioner has claimed.

A planned amendment to Coventry’s Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), which will prohibit the use of e-bikes and e-scooters in pedestrianised zones, is set to be approved at next week’s city council meeting, and comes as a response to what the local authority has described as the “visible increase” in e-bikes, scooters, and bikes in the city centre, prompting concern from locals for their safety due to “reckless” behaviour.

The ban, which if ratified by the council’s cabinet on Tuesday will come into force on 20 November, will not apply to pedal cycles or those using cycles as a mobility aid.

The exclusion of standard cycles and mobility aids from the ban comes after campaigners opposed the council’s initial proposed amendment to the PSPO, which would have stipulated that all people using cycles should dismount in the city centre – a proposal described by local active travel campaigners as “counterproductive” and one that could “send out contradictory messages about how cyclists are treated in the city”, while also penalising disabled people who use cycles as mobility aids.

> “They will just not listen nor learn”: Council proposes all-out cycling ban in town centres to tackle “nuisance within communities”

According to a report by Coventry City Council’s community safety officer Liam Nagle, concerns have been raised by locals “particularly due to the volume of e-bikes and motorcycles that look like bikes being used by delivery teams” in areas of the city centre.

In July, officers from West Midlands Police said that they would begin “engaging with delivery riders” in the city centre due to riding complaints from locals, though councillor Nagle insisted at the time that the issue relates to “quite a niche cohort of people”.

The report continues: “Some people have also been observed to be riding recklessly and in a dangerous manner and the speed of some of e-bikes, e-scooters, and cycles makes some pedestrians feel unsafe.

“The council wants to ensure that people feel safe when visiting the city centre and to mitigate against any potential accidents whilst also recognising the importance of enabling cyclists to travel around the city.”

While the current PSPO allows authorised officers to order cyclists to dismount “if it is felt that their riding is reckless or dangerous”, the report also notes that such a provision “requires a continuous presence of enforcement officers in the city centre to monitor behaviour” and affords the council “limited powers to address cycling generally”.

The council launched a public consultation in September concerning the proposed banning of all cycles, e-bikes, and e-scooters in pedestrian areas.

Of the 1,158 respondents, most of whom the council noted are regular city centre visitors, 79 percent agreed that the PSPO should be amended to ensure that all cyclists should dismount when entering pedestrianised areas. West Midlands Police and the area’s business improvement district also expressed their support for the plans.

Nicholas Mansell, the police’s anti-social behaviour co-ordinator in Coventry, said that city centre officers have noticed a shift in public opinion towards cyclists, claiming that more people are now asking how the police are handling “certain aspects” of cycling behaviour and are calling for “decisive” action against “dangerous” cyclists.

“We have seen incidents within the city centre where offenders on bicycles have carried out robberies against the person or used bicycles to get away from incidents, so not being able to ride their bikes in the pedestrianised areas will help address this,” Mansell claimed.

> “Stick it up your a*se”, 82-year-old tells council officer after being fined £100 for cycling in town centre

However, the local authority also received formal responses from Adam Tranter, the West Midlands’ walking and cycling commissioner, as well as opposition councillors, Transport for West Midlands, and cycling disability charity Wheels for Wellbeing, asking whether a “blanket ban on all bikes was necessary or proportional to the current issues”.

In particular, Wheels for Wellbeing expressed concerns that any proposal may disadvantage disabled cyclists and deter them from using the city centre, a factor the council says it has considered and addressed in its newly amended plans.

The council also noted in its report that those respondents to the consultation who opposed the blanket ban on all cycles commented that the amendment “should target only e-bikes as they cause the majority of the problems”.

Following the response to the consultation, the council is now recommending that its cabinet approve an amendment to the city centre PSPO which would require e-bike and e-scooter riders to dismount when within the designated pedestrian zone.

“Unintended consequences”

However, while the new proposal sees the council walk back on its initial plans to ban all cycles from Coventry city centre, walking and cycling commissioner Tranter has nevertheless responded to the report by arguing that prohibiting the use of e-bikes – and not just illegally modified or non-pedal-assist forms of electric bike – will also “bring unintended consequences for active travel overall”.

“In September 2023, I wrote to Coventry City Council to highlight my concerns that their original proposed amendment to their Public Space Protection Order would discourage cycling and penalise disabled people who use cycles as a mobility aid,” Tranter, who also noted in his earlier letter that stopping cyclists from using the city centre would “sever” important cycle routes, forcing cyclists to navigate less safe roads, said in a statement.

“In my role, it is my priority to work to protect pedestrians but I do not feel that the proposed amendment to the PSPO will achieve this and will bring with it many unintended consequences. As a regular visitor on foot to Coventry City Centre, I too know that there are problems particularly relating to the anti-social use of illegally modified e-bikes.

“But throughout this process, I have been clear that the council and police already have the powers to enforce against this as the existing PSPO states that any person cycling or skateboarding must do so in a careful and considerate manner.

“The police have powers to deal with any person riding illegal vehicles, such as e-scooters or powerful e-bikes which do not conform to the Electrically assisted pedal cycle regulations 1983, and which are likely to be the cause of much of the public’s concern.”

He continued: “I am grateful to the council for taking some of my feedback on board as part of the consultation… The exemption from the PSPO of people using standard cycles and those using cycling as a mobility aid is welcome, however, the current recommendation for the approval next week will still ban the use of all e-bikes in the city centre core.

“This week I have again written to the council urging them to amend the draft PSPO wording to only include e-bikes that do not require pedalling to operate and/or have the ability to be electrically assisted to a speed greater than 15.5mph.

“I believe this would achieve the council’s stated objectives and ensure responsible cyclists using EPACs (electrically assisted pedal cycles) are not unduly penalised.”

Cyclists dismount unless mobility aid (Wheels for Wellbeing)
Cyclists dismount unless mobility aid (Wheels for Wellbeing) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

> Campaigners call for clearer signage to reduce “risk of confrontation” with pedestrians, after council insists disabled cyclists won’t be fined under controversial town centre cycling ban

PSPOs, which allow councils to crack down on anti-social behaviour by enabling officers to issue fines to those who break rules on matters such as dog control, street drinking, or in this case cycling in a pedestrianised area, have become an increasing point of contention for local authorities in recent years.

Criticising the influx of town centre cycling bans across the country, Cycling UK’s Duncan Dollimore has argued that “some councils have used PSPOs as a geographically defined version of an ASBO to restrict the use of public space and criminalise behaviour not normally regarded as illegal”.

One such controversial PSPO, in Grimsby, has seen over 1,000 fixed penalty notices issued since 2019, with council officers accused of targeting “old and slow” cyclists and one woman ordered to pay £1,100 after refusing to pay the fine for riding her bicycle through the town centre.

The lack of clear signage in Grimsby concerning its cycling ban also prompted the aforementioned Wheels for Wellbeing, a campaign group for disabled people who cycle, to criticise a councillor’s “just get off and walk” advice to cyclists who want to avoid becoming the latest person on the end of a fine.

The charity said that such an attitude “only works for people who can” walk their bikes and called on North East Lincolnshire Council to accept a more inclusive approach, rather than preventing disabled people from accessing their local amenities.

However, the council replied to a road.cc request for comment by insisting that the PSPO does not prevent disabled cyclists riding into town.

Last year cyclists in Bedford protested a similarly “discriminatory” town centre cycling ban, with more than 3,200 tickets handed out to people, including around-the-world cyclist Josh Quigley, caught breaking the rules. 

And just last month, police in Nuneaton asked the council to introduce a no cycle zone to cut out “really dangerous” cycling and “anti-social behaviour” in the town’s shopping area, saying that “we get a lot of kids wheelie-ing through and it sets the wrong tone”.