E-bike Locky Docks ready in Christchurch

The first in a national network of electric bike and e-scooter charging and locking stations free for public use will be operating in Christchurch this June.

Dubbed ‘Locky Docks’, the lockable bike and scooter stands from Northern Europe have been established at 10 Christchurch locations and will be rolled out during the next year or so by Big Street Bikers.

The Locky Docks were first demonstrated by Big Street Bikers at an Auckland solar-powered Rechargery event in late 2018.

A public-private partnership (PPP) has allowed the Locky Docks project to be established, with the Christchurch City Council also contributing $50,000 and Mercury on board as a foundation partner.

Screen advertising at Locky Dock stations will subsidise costs to ensure they are free for public use and they will incorporate e-bikes, conventional bikes, e-scooters, skateboards or “anything that has a loop the bar can go through”, Big Street Bikers says.

The media model makes it free to the property owner and free to the public to use.

Locks are opened and closed using an app, and users must provide their own chargers, while every Locky Dock has a CCTV camera and alarm.

“Locky Docks are post-carbon, post-COVID, smart city infrastructure for healthy transport. It’s about creating convenience and peace of mind with the secure parking to enable more people to make biking part of their daily life,” Big Street Bikers co-founder Cleve Cameron says.

“We welcome organisations and property owners with customers, staff or tenants who could benefit from the secure parking to get in touch about having a Locky Dock on their site.”

E-bike use has increased markedly in New Zealand in recent years, council sustainability and community resilience committee chair SaraTempleton says, Christchurch City Council’s Newsline reports.

“These new charging stations will support greater e-bike use here in Christchurch, benefiting the environment, taking pressure off our transport infrastructure and attracting more people into the central city.”

Council Smart Christchurch programme manager Michael Healy says it has been working with Big Street Bikers to make SmartView available on the digital displays at each locking station.

“Originally a web app, SmartView pulls together about 50 datasets from a range of public and private organisations, making way finding and local attraction information easily accessible to both locals and visitors.”

Maps of the Christchurch Locky Dock locations are included on the Locky Dock website.

Contact hq@bigstreetbikers.com or visit https://www.lockydock.co.nz/ for more information.