Northern Beaches Council has adopted a policy to guide the growth of shared transport across the Northern Beaches and to minimise its impact on the environment and local community.

At its meeting last night, councillors endorsed the shared transport policy, which has been the result of extensive consultation and feedback with the community and business operators.

Shared transport includes bike sharing, car sharing and on-demand transport schemes.

Mayor Michael Regan said shared transport is a rapidly expanding part of the transport sector and Council was seeking to take a leading role in the sector by encouraging innovation.

“This policy provides a platform for new technology to further develop and managed shared transport in urban areas,” Mayor Regan said.

“This sector is currently experiencing rapid change, with new technologies such as shared bikes and electric bikes providing options to connect with public transport alternatives”.

Council’s policy is designed to further enhance the legislation recently amended by the NSW Government. This provides a regulatory framework to minimise the impact of shared transport on the environment and the safety of pedestrians across the state.

“Council will work with operators to support and regulate shared transport schemes on the Northern Beaches and ensure a fair and equitable market is in place for operators. We are also committed to looking after the interests of the local community and ensuring residents who choose to use shared transport can enjoy doing so.”

Council’s shared transport policy is part of its overall transport strategy, MOVE which is designed to reduce congestion on Northern Beaches roads by encouraging people to use cars less and use alternative means of transport more.

At its meeting, Council also adopted its bike share guidelines which provide a framework for the management of bike share schemes on the Northern Beaches. Staff are to report back to Council for each of the next three years on the operation of these transport schemes.