BIKER have warned they are set to be hit with “disproportionate” parking charges that will see them pay more to park than most cars.
Bath and North East Somerset Council introduced emissions-based parking – where drivers pay extra to park depending on their vehicle’s emissions – at car parks in Bath in 2023.
Now the council wants to make £195,000 by rolling out emissions-based parking charges to more locations, including Keynsham and Saltford, increasing the prices at Bath car parks, and making people pay to park motorbikes and scooters for the first time.
The emissions-based charges are intended to ensure “the polluter pays” but bikers have warned they will end up paying more than drivers of more polluting cars.
The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) say that “commuter” motorbikes with smaller engine sizes could pay as much as luxury cars.
Colin Brown, director of campaigns and political engagement at the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), said: “The introduction of any parking charges is always going to be controversial.
“But when you look at how it’s being implemented for Bath and North East Somerset, it appears to be disproportionate to another level.”
With emissions-based parking, pay-and-display machines look up a vehicle’s emissions from the DVLA and charge based on how much carbon is emitted or, if this information is not available, the capacity of the engine.
Mr Brown said that for nine out of 10 bikes on the road, the DVLA does not have any emissions data, meaning most bikes would be charged based on their engine size.
Under the council’s plans, bikes and scooters follow a separate banding system than cars, meaning bikes with smaller engines would pay the same amount as cars with larger engines.
A motorbike with an engine capacity over 600cc would be charged the maximum amount, the same as the largest most polluting cars with engines over 2951 cc, which Mr Brown called “frankly ridiculous”.
He said: “Motorcycles will get charged more despite the fact that they are less polluting than cars.”
He added: “You have got a situation where somebody riding a 150cc moped is going to get charged the same as someone driving a one-and-a-half litre car. There is no comparison there in terms of the CO2 emissions.”
One argument used by the council was that some motorbikes were now so large they took up a whole parking bay. MAG also dismissed the claim as “manifestly not true.”
In July, Mr Brown and Geoff Mills, MAG’s western region transport policy officer, met council officers about the plans at the council offices in Keynsham, travelling to the the town on their motorbikes.
The charges would kick in from October. A public consultation on the council’s parking plans — which also proposes the end of free parking at car parks in Midsomer Norton and Radstock — closed on August 8.
Launching the consultation in July, Manda Rigby, the council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “Our aim is to improve air quality, reduce congestion and encourage other ways to travel across Bath and North East Somerset, and these proposals would be another step in the right direction to achieve this.”
John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporting Service
Pictured, a Yamaha Diversion (600cc) and Triumph Speedmaster 865 (865cc) which MAG members rode to Keynsham for a meeting with the council about the parking charge proposals
Bikers rap ‘ludicrous’ parking charge plans
