Bikers whacked with parking charges

[totalmotorcycle]

Bikers whacked with parking charges
Thursday, January 4, 2007 - By Martina Smit - This is Hertfordshire - thisishertfordshire.co.uk



Free parking for thousands of motorcycle and scooter riders are likely to be scrapped in central London.

Westminster Council wants to charge up to £1.50 a day for parking in bike bays, despite fierce criticism from biker groups.

A council spokesman said the congestion charge has caused an increase in the number of bikes commuting into London, as they are exempt from the toll. "Our surveys show bays are 120% full - in other words they are oversubscribed.

"We are getting complaints about riders who try to squeeze in their vehicles, damaging other bikes. Some even move other scooters out of the bays, resulting in parking fines for the innocent owners."

The council now proposes what it calls a "nominal" daily parking charge of £1 to £1.50, or a seasonal permit of £150 a year.

Surveys ignored

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The proposal comes in spite of two of Westminster's own surveys showing overwhelming opposition.

In a survey on the council's website, only 12% of over 240 bikers were willing to pay for parking.

On-street interviews with 205 bikers who commute into London had just 25% positive responses.

Transport for London (TfL) encourages motorcycles by exempting them from the congestion charge. But the new parking charges contradict this, said Jeff Stone, spokesman of the British Motorcycle Federation (BMF). "It will not reduce traffic congestion."

He added: "There seems to be a very confused attitude towards powered two-wheelers. It is almost as if someone decided 'we don't want all these bikes standing in the way'."

Westminster said it would use the charges to expand its 480 motorcycle bays by 10%, creating parking spaces for 5,000 instead of 4,500 bikes.

A council spokesman said the plans also included fitting new rails and ground anchors at bays to which bikers can lock their vehicles.

"It is almost as if someone decided 'we don't want all these bikes standing in the way'."
BMF spokesman

However, the proposal itself - of which Local London has a copy dated October 2006 - states the exact opposite: "It is not proposed to provide security devices in any on-street bays at this stage due to inconclusive evidence as to their use, and due to the large capital investment that would be required to purchase and install the devices."

Will Beeley, who runs the website www.motorcycleparking.com, said the plans seemed "very much revenue-based" as the council did not consider alternatives.

Islington Council used using anti-crime government money to fit security devices at bays while local businesses sponsored the secured bays in Swindon, he added.

Westminster's scheme has only one hurdle left - final approval by the council cabinet. If given the go-ahead, the charges would come into effect towards the end of this year.

Resident bays

Meanwhile, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is also reducing its number of free bike bays.

From spring, many of the spaces in residential areas will be turned into resident-only motorcycle bays. Although they will be equipped with ground anchors, bikers will have to pay £50 for a permit - 278% more than the current £18.

"We will continue to provide free motorcycle parking bays for visitors as well," a borough spokesman said.

Since the start of the congestion charge in February 2003, the number of "powered two-wheelers" registered in Greater London has increased from 98,000 to 111,000 last year, according to the Department for Transport.

TfL said it had no plans to introduce a congestion charge for motorcycles.