Carmen Christensen’s online petition has since received more than 790 signatures to date.
Carmen lives in Chandos Road, Leyton but previously spent five years in Leytonstone.
“It used to take me a really long time to get home from central London where I work and it was quite difficult to even pop into town,” she said.
“I can’t afford a car and it would take me 20 to 30 minutes just to walk to the shops so I’d need to cycle down there but it’s much better to have a form of shared mobility.
“There’s such an issue with stolen bikes too – I’ve had three bikes of my own stolen.
“It’d be nice to have something where you don’t have any liability over losing it and it’s super quick.”
Carmen now lives in Leyton but spent five years in Leytonstone (Image: Carmen Christensen) Carmen contacted Lime after her petition reached 500 signatures.
The bike operators told her that they were eager to expand into the borough but Waltham Forest Council was blocking the avenue.
Leanne Gaffney-Berkeley, public affairs manager at Lime, said: “We’re excited to hear this petition is gaining so much traction.
“We often hear from Waltham Forest locals about how much they’d benefit from having access to shared e-bikes to get around their borough and connect with other parts of London.
“We’d love to operate there and hope to work with Waltham Forest Council to make it happen.”
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But Councillor Clyde Loakes, deputy leader and cabinet member for climate and air quality, told this paper: “There are currently no plans to introduce a dockless bike hire scheme with Lime or any other operator in Waltham Forest.
“We previously trialled schemes with three operators, all of which were unfortunately unsuccessful.
“Operators found it difficult to maintain the bikes in an outer London borough and prioritised their inner-city service.
“We also experienced problems with dockless bikes being poorly parked and often blocking pavements, which especially impacts older residents, parents with prams, and disabled people.
“Following our trials, we have been closely monitoring other boroughs’ dockless schemes and note the widespread issues around theft of these cycles and them being left to block pavements.”
Carmen said that cycling felt like a safer way to travel for her.
“On public transport you can find some unsavoury characters and the walk to and from a train station, especially late at night, can feel quite unsafe.
“Myself and lots of my friends prefer cycling for that reason.”
She said she understands that some problems may be encountered with Lime bikes but urged the council to open up access to them for a “greener and more mobile future”.
Cllr Loakes added: “There are three bike loan options offered by Waltham Forest that allow anyone who lives, works, or studies in the borough to borrow a properly maintained high-quality bicycle, including cargo bikes and electric bikes, for a small refundable deposit.
“We have also partnered with Peddle My Wheels to offer a try before you buy scheme whereby residents who want to try cycling pay a small amount each month for a bike, with an easy return process if they decide it isn’t right for them.
“Waltham Forest has been a pioneer of active travel for over a decade.
“We will continue our work – but we do not believe that introducing a dockless hire bike scheme at this time would have the desired effect.”
To sign Carmen’s petition, click here.
