Congestion Charge - good news for a change

From an article in this weeks MCN (p.12)

The benefits of bikes in London are set to grow as Mayor Ken Livingstone raises the daily congestion charge for cars from £5 to £8 from July 4. Motorcycles have been exempt from the charge for entering the city centre since it was introduced in 2003, and bike use has risen by 20% while accidents have dropped by 10%. The new charge should see even more people abandoning four wheels for two. A spokesman for Transport for London said: "Bikes will still be free, and there are no plans to change that."

And it isn't even April 1st!

And how many more bike bays are they going to make? None I bet.


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stand by for 100's more scooters on the roads in london. not enough parking space as it is......grrrr

good news that the rumoured plans to charge bikes was false

Originally Posted by jonboy

And how many more bike bays are they going to make? None I bet.


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I think you'll find that our favourite Westminster Council is to blame for that - they refuse to put any more in because a) they're being difficult as they don't like Ken, and b) they don't get any money from bikes whereas they can coin it from car drivers

Originally Posted by RizlaSV

I think you'll find that our favourite Westminster Council is to blame for that - they refuse to put any more in because a) they're being difficult as they don't like Ken, and b) they don't get any money from bikes whereas they can coin it from car drivers

well i have a solution

many of the bays in mayfair are bigger than other car parking bays (and i'm not joking here...) because years ago the perception was that the cars in mayfair will be big rollers and mercs - if you go to somewhere like mount st/grosvenor square you'll see what i mean.

soooooooo.....make the bays regular size, they lose no revenue and increase bike parking in the newly created space!

Maybe we should pressure Ken to keep motorcycles free...and make scooters pay the same as cars, on account of them being so disliked

[Biker Biggles]

The present Government had "no plans"to increase tax when asked before the election.Didnt stop them doing it.What Ken said amounts to a similar assurance.Idont think it will happen in the near future but when it suits them.......?

Maybe we should pressure Ken to keep motorcycles free...and make scooters pay the same as cars, on account of them being so disliked

agreed

Well, I thought it looked like good news at first glance...

If they can't get you with the congestion charge (and they can't afford to supplement all the front facing cameras by installing rear facing ones just to catch bikes) then by gradually reducing the number of available/free bike parking spaces then bikers will be forced to pay up for legitimate spaces or be fined for illegal parking elsewhere.

Win win situation for the newt man either way. Four wheel traffic goes down and all the two wheelers that currently avoid the charge will probably end up paying more than £8/day in parking fees/fines.

But at least accidents are down...

Originally Posted by Nick762

Well, I thought it looked like good news at first glance...

LOL. First rule of internet forums - if you can't post a negative response to something, don't bother posting