Dear Premier Ben Carroll and Deputy Premier & Active Transport Minister Gabrielle Williams,

We urge you to intervene and reverse Mayor Stephen Jolly and Yarra City Council’s decision to ban Lime e-bikes. This backwards move threatens the viability of shared micro-mobility across neighbouring inner-city councils, including Darebin, Merri-bek, Melbourne, Stonnington, and Port Phillip.

While leading global cities like London, Sydney and Paris scale up shared e-bikes, Yarra’s ban is stalling active transport progress in Melbourne. This decision directly undermines Victoria’s Active Transport Plan target of 25% of trips made by walking or cycling by 2030 and jeopardises the future of Good Cycles, a social enterprise creating jobs for disadvantaged youth.

The scheme is not perfect but its success in Yarra is clear:

• High usage, minimal friction: 425,404 trips taken with only ~1 complaint per month (100 total over 6 years).
• Serves locals: 90.9% of riders are Yarra residents (average age 34.9), and 48.6% earn below median income.
• Cost-effective: Unlike the former Melbourne Bike Share scheme that cost taxpayers $2 million annually, Lime did not charge council anything

This conservative, anti-cycling council designed the tender to fail with unreasonable demands on the operator, including moving bikes within 30 minutes of a report, answering phone calls within 10 seconds 24/7 (failure to do resulting in fines at $5k and $10k for every further breach), and demanding operators build parking infrastructure without using footpaths or on-street car parking. When Lime pointed out these issues to council, council had the option to renegotiate for a more effective deal. They chose not to.

This follows a broader anti-cycling pattern in Yarra, including narrowing the Elizabeth St protected bike lanes and cancelling the Wellington St protected bike lanes extension.

Sydney is dealing with the e-bike conflict through the rollout of dedicated on-street parking bays, geofenced “no-go” and "go-slow" zones, and operator accountability—feasible solutions Victoria should replicate rather than resorting to outright bans.

Minister Williams, you have stated that "active transport is not just a convenience, it’s essential" and that "walking and riding should not just be possible, but preferred." We ask you to stand by those words, intervene in Yarra’s decision, and protect Melbourne’s cross-council shared e-bike network.