‘SUPPORT MOTORCYCLING IN TRANSPORT PLANS’ SAYS INDUSTRY, AS GOVERNMENT PUBLISHES LOCAL POLICY GUIDANCE
06 January 2005 - Motor Cycle Industry Association Ltd

The publication by the Government of the ‘Full Guidance on Local Transport Plans: Second Edition’ has again revealed an urgent need for local authorities to include positive plans and policies for motorcycle use.

Local authorities are required to produce five year local transport plans (LTPs), with the final plans due to be completed in Spring 2006. Provisional plans will need to be submitted to central government by the end of July 2005.

In response to the publication of the guidance, the Institute of Highway Incorporated Engineers (IHIE) in partnership with the Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCI) has produced guidance for local authorities on biking in local transport plans. The guidance; ‘Briefing Note On Motorcycling Issues and ‘LTP2’’ is available from the IHIE website on http://www.ihie.org.uk/news_press1.html The IHIE will also be launching new motorcycle traffic engineering guidelines for highways engineers in the spring.

MCI is also working with a number of ‘beacon’ local authorities on showcase transport integration schemes for motorcycling and providing technical advice and support on biking policies to a range of local stakeholders.

Many LTPs in 2001 showed an increased interest in supporting motorcycling as a commuting alternative to the car, but since then only limited work has been done to improve safety, access and security for motorcycle users.

MCI notes that the new guidance has positive recommendations which encompass a number of transport modes, with motorcycling included in these. The guidance recognises that; ‘greater use of this mode (motorcycling) could potentially deliver congestion, accessibility and air quality benefits’.

Unfortunately, the potential for motorcycling as an alternative mode for commuting transport has been undermined by a view that motorcycling is dangerous. Clearly, safety is an issue of concern, but actions should also be taken in local transport plans to address making areas more accessible by motorcycle and improving security at parking sites. All too often safety is used as a poor excuse to do nothing about integrating biking into transport plans, despite the fact that doing so would be likely to make life easier and less risky for riders.

In the meantime, motorcycle use is on the increase. Commuters are increasingly switching to biking for the following reasons:

To avoid traffic congestion
To avoid overcrowded and often unreliable public transport
To compensate for a lack of public transport provision
To reduce journey times
To retain flexibility in personal mobility

Over 150,000 Powered Two Wheelers (PTW) of all kinds were sold new in 2004. If second-hand sales are included in this total, over 500,000 PTWs changed hands in 2004.

Despite a sharp increase in KSI numbers in 2003, motorcycle casualty rates continue to fall year on year per mile travelled. The chance of a rider having an accident is at its lowest for over 10 years. In addition, early casualty number returns for 2004 indicate a significant fall in both killed and seriously injured riders during a year where indications are that motorcycle mileages continued to rise.

MCI’s Craig Carey-Clinch said; “Ignoring motorcycles in LTPs will not make them go away. In addition, the approach of ignoring biking in policy and planning has arguably led to a situation where the vulnerability and risk associated with motorcycle use has been unnecessarily sustained. Instead, LTPs should ease accessibility for riders, improve security at parking locations and initiate road safety programmes which are motorcycle user orientated.

“It is clearly time that local authorities took biking seriously in these new LTPs. Not only does Government guidance call for this, but the DfT is also issuing Europe’s first National Motorcycle Strategy in the coming weeks. Couple this with the forthcoming IHIE guidelines for transport planners, the continuing demand from the public for motorcycles and the need to make life for riders safer, more secure and more accessible in our towns and cities and in the countryside, it seems clear that local authorities can no longer continue to ignore the very visible public switch to biking as an alternative to the car for commuting.”

www.mcia.co.uk

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