North Sydney is in line for up to $200,000 under a new $6.6 million NSW Sharing Scheme Grant Program that gives local areas the tools to designate parking zones, restrict where shared bikes can go, and finally clear footpaths that have been blocked since Lime arrived on the lower north shore.
The change lands more than 18 months after residents first sounded the alarm over abandoned bikes blocking local footpaths.
The parking problem
Lime launched in North Sydney in November 2024, and the reaction was swift. “Outlaw them,” Neutral Bay resident Victoria Houlder said at the time. “They are a menace.” Another local, Fiona Bailey, said the bikes had turned North Sydney streets into “a garbage tip.”
North Sydney rangers moved more than 100 Lime Bikes posing a safety risk in a single month alone, with the area flagging it was not resourced for the additional workload.
Under the rules that applied at the time, rangers could only impound a bike after a seven-day observation period followed by a four-day notice period — a process that left obstructing bikes in place for nearly a fortnight before anything could be done.
More control, bigger penalties
The Sharing Scheme Grant Program tears up that framework. Under the new powers, areas can designate required parking zones and issue fines of up to $55,000 to operators who ignore a removal order, plus $5,500 for each day the offence continues.
Transport for NSW can also revoke an operator’s approval entirely.
Areas will be able to choose which operators run in their patch, lock parks and foreshores as no-go zones, and create go-slow areas in busy pedestrian precincts.
Grant funding of up to $200,000 per application covers the cost of building the marked kerb-side bays that make the system work.
The entire program is funded not by taxpayers but by a 60-cent fee operators already pay to Transport for NSW on every shared e-bike trip.
Transport for NSW is targeting 250 new parking bays for 2,500 shared e-bikes this year, with 62 already underway.
North Sydney’s response
North Sydney has confirmed it has resolved to implement shared-bike parking bays as part of a trial and will consider applying for grant funding.
“North Sydney welcomes measures to improve the operation of share bikes across NSW and looks forward to further information on the proposed powers and programs, including what they involve and how they will be implemented,” a spokesperson said.
North Sydney has confirmed it will consider applying for the grant. Residents eager to see shared bike parking better managed will be watching closely to see whether the area secures the funding.
Published 7-July-2026
