What a proposed e-bike ban will do to your food delivery
Saam Taghavi is saving up to buy a car. He doesn’t really want one, but he’s preparing for what is likely to happen later this year: his e-bike will no longer be welcomed on Sydney’s trains.
The Parramatta resident used to work as a food delivery driver, where he would take the train towards the city, e-bike in tow, to pick up more jobs. Now that he’s found part-time work in Five Dock, Taghavi uses his e-bike to get from a nearby train station to his job. But if the NSW government’s proposed temporary ban on e-bikes on trains goes ahead, he plans to give up on public transport and just drive.
Saam Taghavi at Parramatta station with his e-bike, which he soon may not being able to take on the train.Credit: Wolter Peeters
“If I were to catch the bus, it would be another 40, 45 minutes,” he said. “[The cycle routes which are] 20 minutes, 30 minutes, would take me like, an hour, and hour and a half.”
Taghavi is among the estimated thousands of commuters who bring e-bikes onto Sydney’s rail network every day. Among the largest users are food delivery drivers, who fear they will be out of work if the ban goes ahead.
Fire risk fears
The NSW government is preparing to temporarily ban e-bikes on the state’s rail network due to concerns that the lithium-ion batteries could catch fire on metros and trains. There are particular concerns about the risk to rail travel (as opposed to buses) because they use underground tunnels.
Last fortnight, the government announced it had begun a snap three-week consultation period on the plan, surveying people who want to have their say.
But now, advocacy groups representing cyclists and food delivery riders are warning that the ban could have unintended consequences, including forcing hundreds of Menulog or Uber Eats riders out of work.
That’s because many riders who deliver food on these apps live in western and south-western Sydney, relying on trains to get into the city and inner west, where there is more demand for orders.
In submissions to the government, advocacy groups Committee for Sydney and Bicycle NSW agreed that modified or dangerous e-bikes (defined as those which do not conform to the European Union’s strict safety standard EN15194, which is also the standard required in Australia) should not be allowed on the rail network. However, they said there should be exceptions for bikes that do, even if they are allowed only on the first and last carriages, where there could be additional fire safety equipment.
“Instead of a blanket ban, let’s take a risk-based approach that balances the benefits of e-mobility with the safety risks,” said the Committee for Sydney’s Estelle Grech, who traded her car for an e-bike for her daily commute. “This ban will be the last straw for many riders.”
An e-bike caught fire on a Melbourne train in March.
How we got here
With food delivery apps surging in popularity during the pandemic, e-bikes have emerged as a helpful way for people delivering food to get around: they’re far cheaper and more nimble than cars or motorbikes.
But many e-bikes on Sydney’s streets do not meet Australia’s safety regulations, primarily because they were – and some argue, still are – being imported without proper federal government oversight.
The batteries on the vehicles are of most concern to experts: they can enter into what is known as a “thermal runaway”, when energy released as heat is produced faster than it can be dispersed.
Fire and Rescue NSW reported more than 180 lithium-ion battery fires so far this year – more than one-third of them involved e-mobility devices, which include e-scooters, e-skateboards and e-bikes.
The proposed ban was accidentally revealed last month when the Herald reported on new posters that were inadvertently erected at some suburban train stations, saying: “Please don’t bring e-bikes”. Transport for NSW removed the posters after the Herald made inquiries.
Why it matters
On one hand, Transport for NSW is concerned about the risk of e-bikes catching alight on trains and metros, especially when they are in tunnels and evacuation is difficult.
While rare, fires have already occurred on trains globally. There have been several fires at NSW stations over the past year, including one in a lift at Blacktown Station, and another reported at Liverpool at the weekend. An e-bike caught fire on a metro train at a Melbourne station in March.
On the other hand, food delivery drivers say their work will be cut if they aren’t allowed to use trains to travel where there’s demand.
“It is hard to make minimum wage as a delivery driver at the best of times,” one person wrote in a submission to the government via Bicycle NSW. “This ban will be the last straw for many riders. Without the ability to flexibly relocate delivery e-bikes to high-demand hotspots, there will be very few riders available to serve business and customer demand.”
What they said
What’s next
After receiving more than 2300 submissions and meeting with stakeholders on Friday, the NSW government had not yet announced any revisions to its plan. The community survey closes on September 3.
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