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We the undersigned urge Camden Council to drop their plans for motorcycle & scooter parking charges.

Camden's plans are:

 🚨 parking permits for residents', businesses' and doctors' motorcycles the same price as cars

 🚨 solo motorcycle bays charged at £2.60/day (£2 for electric) costing £600/year for a commuter

 🚨 1 in 7 riders - those living in so-called 'car-free developments' - to face charges up to £950/year - more than any car

 🚨 other residents' permits to nearly double from £75 to £146/year (£139 for electric)

 🚨 only 1 permit allowed per person so those with both a family car and an economical motorcycle for commuting will be forced to sell one

 🚨 motorcycle business permits of £419/year 

🚨 doctors forced to pay £326 a year to be permitted by Camden Council to do their lifesaving work

These plans are disproportionate, unworkable and counterproductive. They will seriously damage the economy of Camden, and the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Camden residents and workers who rely on motorcycles and scooters. They will entrench car usage and increase emissions in Camden.

A commuter using a motorcycle or scooter to work in Camden will pay an outrageous and unaffordable £600/year under these plans. During the cost of living crisis average regular wages fell in real terms by around £900/year in 2022. Just as real wages are now starting to recover, Camden’s proposals would have the effect of imposing another cost of living crisis on mostly lower paid workers. 

Residents who own both a car and a motorcycle will under these plans be forced to sell one. Some will have to choose their car over their motorcycle, and others will be discouraged from switching to a motorcycle or scooter. This will entrench and increase car usage in Camden, which in turn will increase emissions.

A motorcyclist living in a so-called ‘car-free’ development would under these plans be unable to buy a permit and therefore have to pay visitor parking rates in a solo motorcycle bay,having to pay the £2.60 daily parking charge before 8.30am, every single day of the year, adding up to £950/year - substantially more than even the largest diesel car.

Camden residents will face a price nearly 3 times higher than any other Inner London Borough. Camden’s motorcycle parking permits are already the most expensive in Inner London, but free parking is provided in solo motorcycle bays which residents who cannot afford the permit can use. The new proposals will double motorcycle permit prices from their already high level, and remove free parking in solo motorcycle bays meaning residents will be forced to pay the extraordinarily high permit price.

Charging motorcycles and scooters the same amount as cars is irrational and counterproductive. It fails to meet the Council’s duties of fairness and proportionality. It fails to account for the fundamental differences between motorcycles and cars. It will discourage car drivers from switching to motorcycles and scooters.

Motorcycling is a transport mode relied on by a diverse range of people, including nurses, doctors, carers, delivery workers, business owners and volunteers. Those who use motorcycles and scooters, due to the nature or length of their journey, often cannot reasonably use other means of transport. For many, a motorcycle or scooter is the only affordable option for their travel needs.

Motorcycles and scooters produce significantly lower emissions than cars of CO2 and key pollutants such as NOx and PM. Electric motorcycles and scooters are similar in impact to an e-bicycle. Motorcycles and scooters do not contribute to congestion, and have the effect of reducing emissions from other vehicles. The fact that 8 motorcycles can park in a single car bay frees up kerbside space for other uses, further easing congestion, or allowing it to be converted to space for walking, cycling or leisure.

Not all trips can be replaced by walking, cycling or public transport. For those that can't, motorcycles and scooters are the best alternative to cars. Instead of seeking to unfairly punish those who choose a sustainable and economical mode of transport, Camden should follow the example of other Councils in recognising the value of incentivising motorcycles and scooters over car use, as a means to meet air quality and climate change goals. 

These plans will unfairly punish residents, workers, and carers who ride motorcycles for problems they do not cause, and force them into transport poverty or out of the borough altogether. They will not achieve the Council’s goals, and risk damaging both the environment and economy of Camden. We urge Camden Council to scrap the proposed charges for motorcycles and scooters.