campaignactioncampaignactioncampaignactioncampaignaction What Now… & Next?
Despite the challenges of current times the future for MAG and UK Biking looks brighter to our man with his finger on pulses in policy-shaping tents…
Reasons to be Cheerful Pt. 4
The quest for reasons to be cheerful can get a tad more tricky as winter sets in if, like me, you prefer to ride throughout the year.
Fortunately, there are at least two good reasons for MAG members to be cheerful as 2011 draws to a close – and to be justifiably proud of what we’ve achieved this year and are set to do next. Well that’s how it looks to me amidst the duckers and divers in the weird and often warped world where policy evolves to make life worse or better for bikers, and I try to do my bit on MAG’s behalf. Top of my list of cheering acts is by an unlikely outfit, given its recent form for pioneering a potentially pernicious bike parking tax. I know that may just sound like ‘a London thing’, but their next move really has big nationwide benefits. MAG’s power to improve the way motorcycling is seen and treated throughout the UK – by politicians and the public – will get a great boost. On the day before the NEC Bike Show, I got written confirmation that Westminster City Council (WCC) will allow motorcycles in their bus lanes in the heart of the Capital on a ‘Trial Scheme’ basis, from February 27th 2012, subject to consultations in January.
But the best thing about this step is that the reason for it is not safety related, as all previous ones have been. Now, and for the first time, the main reasons for the measure are that it has environmental and time-saving benefits for essential journeys – and those aims are vastly easier to promote, and far harder for the anti-biking brigade to attack. And, in case you missed our recent references to new evidence about big environmental benefits of motorcycling in The ROAD, or nodded off while reading mine (which seems fair enough), it’s from a TfL study of PTW Emissions. Basically, we now have strong evidence to show that commuting and other vital trips in towns by motorbike are up-to and over five times greener than by car or van etc. and can cut time wasted in traffic by up
to a third or more per trip. But a remarkable coincidence of the new WCC trial scheme with the ‘end’ of another, adds more to the nationwide importance of what’s going on. By mid December, London’s Mayor must decide whether to replace TfL’s three year trial of motorbikes in bus lanes with a permanent scheme on their citywide network
MAG must be credited with delivering a key advance for
UK riders
of strategic roads. If he does, and all I’m allowed to say on that for now is that I’m extremely hopeful he will, our chances of getting bikes in all UK bus lanes will rise dramatically. A combination of the TfL and WCC schemes means that very soon, motorbikes can use bus lanes throughout the heart of our ‘World City’. The icing on that cake is that this situation will arise after the most rigorous examination of the safety benefits of this measure anywhere on earth – and the acceptance of new environmental/ time saving reasons for it by one of the nation’s most influential local authorities. So, very soon, it will be far harder for any council to deny motorbike access to bus lanes in all UK towns and cities.
But the cherry on the top has to be the fact that the WCC scheme was solely proposed by
me on MAG’s behalf, so MAG must be credited with delivering a key advance for UK riders – and setting new benchmarks and criteria and highlighting extra reasons for policy-makers to enable more growth in motorcycling. Coincidently, again, the other good reason we have for cheeriness also stems from effective use of the TfL emissions study. But the action in this case is happening in the heart of Central Government’s Transport Policy shaping tent.
As I mentioned in the last issue, Mike Penning MP, our biking Roads Minister was keen to have a one-to-one chat about motorcycling generally and to thoroughly gauge the strength of new environmental and economic arguments for enabling greater shift from cars to bikes. He grasped the significance of the TfL Report so firmly that he insisted on taking the copy I had stashed in my bag straight back to the DfT. His civil servants would be asked to review the report. Once that’s done, he will seek our well informed analysis of any concerns they may have, and consider any suggestions we make as to what might be best next – with a keenly focused and very open mind. To put a tin hat on these bits of good news for MAG and UK motorcycling, I’ve just heard a few whispers about the final summaries of results from the TfL Motorbikes in Bus Lanes Trial. Opponents of the measure may have a lot more positive stuff about the safety benefits to chew on than they can swallow, or try to spit back. Right now, I just hope that the work we’ve done this year does bring you some cause for cheer and good reasons to do more in what may well be a happier New Year for UK Bikers!
Leon Mannings Transport Policy Advisor, MAG (UK)
The ROAD 49
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