City of Edinburgh Council are undertaking a Parking Consultation which runs till 31st October and will be of interest to Motorcycle users who live in, work or visit the city
The main areas affecting Motorcyclists or potentially affecting us are detailed in the Parking Action Plan are:-
Increased use of Shared Parking Bays (Action 8) and Consider charging for motorcycle parking and residents motorcycle parking permits (Action 21).
With regard to Motorcycling issues MAG argues that Increased reliance of shared use bays as opposed to dedicated M/C Parking:-
- Causes increased risk of damage to motorcycles from other vehicles manoeuvring in the bay.
- Does not provide an opportunity to provide railings or alternative secure parking fixtures that machines can be chained to in order to discourage theft. (Note Edinburgh has the highest incidence of Motorcycle theft in Scotland as a percentage of insurance claims and is in the top ten most risky areas in the UK)
- Does not provide the additional security that a number of bikes in a bay gives through increased access / activity in the area discouraging theft.
- Reduces the expectation that M/Cycle parking will be at an expected location.
- Increases risk of being involved in collision accessing / exiting parking by being masked by other vehicles.
Fails to adhere to the Scottish Governments Motorcycle Guidelines for Scotland and IHE (Formerly IHIE) motorcycling Guidelines which requires that Motorcycle Parking (Like Cycle Parking) Should be Near Clear Safe and Secure and also states that for a parking model, Motorcycles should be considered in much the same way as cycles.
Proposals to charge for Motorcycle parking are unacceptable and unjustified.
Local and National Transport Strategies seek to encourage modal shift away from Car use onto more sustainable means of transport. Charging for Motorcycle Parking will act as a disincentive to modal shift from the car for those for whom walking ,cycling or public transport are not viable options. Preventing the benefits of reduced congestion, reduced emissions and lower land use for parking that motorcycles and scooters represent. It should be noted that a bay capable of permitting one car to park can accommodate six motorcycles.
While there can be some sympathy for cash strapped Councils, levying a parking charge on Motorcycle Parking is inequitable, given this modes ability to contribute to reducing transport problems and considered against the multi million pound budget set aside for cycling such as the £10M budget for the Roseburn to Leith Segregated cycle way.
Steve Wykes
Edinburgh and District NAG