Westminster Council introduce bike parking charge

Just found a note on my bike, that Westminster council are gonna start charging for motorcyclists parking, £1.50 per day or £150 annual.

They are charging so they can make more spaces available. Thats 14,000 Westminster riders pay £1.50 daily.  Effing scandalous.

As it will be a  cash cow for them, expect your local council to start it soon!

 We should protest, do a 'go slow' through the town. 

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 13:20

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 13:46

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 13:58

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 14:00

Very Good Nige.

I'd be interested in knowing how they would implement the charging system?

Will you have to buy a ticket to stick to the bike for it to get nicked?  will there be some type of meter or ticket machine?  Thus leading to another whole new industry to administer and pay for this.

You can bet that all they are really interested in is some mechanism in which to fine you for non-compliance, that is bound to raise more revenue than the 1.50 charge. 

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 14:08

I heard about this ages ago, but I've still not seen a definitive date for this. What date does it say they'll start running this (stupid) scheme?

The other thought I had, is what about people who have 2 different bikes - rain/dry. It's bound to be tied to a numberplate so it'll mean if you're in that position, you'll have to pay double. Bastards.

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 14:13

There have been suggestions of charges being brought in for a number of years.

 if you recall there was all the fuss a few years ago because they started to reduce the number of bays available.

Then there was the argument that they were going to add security to the bays, and that was the justification for the charges.

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 14:17

I really would like to see this so called security they say they added to the bays as 90% of the bays I see are naked with not even a few bars. I want to know what on earth I'm paying for, aside from robbing someone in their DB9 of a parking bay. The fact that car bays are empty half the time in the West end yet they don't expand them to become wider bike bays is really not very encouraging!

Their push bike policy is incredible, too. They genuinely claim that their pushbike bars are 'secure bike storage' areas. Saying that, at least they have those bars. Just a shame noone buys a decent pushbike lock to actually stop their pushbike from being nicked!

Westminster council really are terrible.

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 14:26

It starts on the 4th August, but if you register now August is free!!!

You notify them by text or phone. Which means you can't leave your mobile at home.

 Oh yeah they say electric bikes park for free.

 Just Great 

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 14:41

Well we're all ok then - Visordown is a community full of electric bike tuners and owners, right?

I found out I'm already registered for parking my car in town once, so i'm all set up to be ripped off . It seems you can add multiple vehicles and swap the permit about between them online, which means dual-bikers can just swap it that morning.

Hmmm.

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 14:53

It raises some questions.....

If I pay the £150 Annual fee then I should expect to get a parking space each time shouldn't I?

What if I just park for 5 mins to pop into a shop. Do I have to pay £1.50 ?

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 22:45

You should expect it, but you won't get it! It's like any street parking permit - the conditions are as long as your arm (and your arm is very long in this case).

 If you park for 5 mins you take the obvious risk, right? I guess the one thing I like is that it's universal. You pay 1.50, you can park anywhere in Westminsterthat day. Slightly generous.

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 23:03

An utter crap hole isn't it. And the authorities do all they can to ensure life in the very centre of the great crap hole is as difficult and expensive as it possibly can be.

So much for encouraging the 2 wheeled transport alternative...

Posted: 17/07/2008 at 23:44

Theres a demo being organised here
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=67279250190

We had a small gathering in August. We got about 50 bikes and did a slow ride round Victoria. We need more like 1000 and some serious traffic blockage. At least once a month. I feel the need for a flashmob of bikes doing slow riding exhibitions round a key choke point in the traffic system in Westminster. Like say, Hyde Park Corner and the Victoria one way system. Of course actually organising that could get you in a world of pain.

Let's see
- Introduce charging
- Make actually paying quite hard
- Install CCTV to prevent crime
- Use the CCTV to enforce the charging
- PROFIT!

I talked with a resting dispatch rider sitting on his bike in a bay in Adam Street. He's going to have to stump up a yearly pass because there's nowhere now for him to stop. Talked with another guy at the same bay arguing on his cellphone because he'd registered one bike in the morning, that broke so he had to come in with another bike but couldn't transfer the number. Talked to a third guy who simply hadn't been able to negotiate the payment system. 2nd guy said he'd seen a bike being towed from a parking bay.

Now what about those bikes you occasionally see on the end of a bay with a tarp over them that don't move for months. Will the council simply remove them?

Posted: 28/08/2008 at 07:49

Parking charges coming to your town centre

If this scheme is a success every council will adopt it.

I commute in from Essex everyday, on occasions I stop. Can you imagine I may have to pay an Essex parking,  Waltham Forest, Islington, City of London & Westminster tickets.

We should seriously nip this in the bud. 

Posted: 28/08/2008 at 13:29

untruth wrote (see)

I heard about this ages ago, but I've still not seen a definitive date for this. What date does it say they'll start running this (stupid) scheme?

The other thought I had, is what about people who have 2 different bikes - rain/dry. It's bound to be tied to a numberplate so it'll mean if you're in that position, you'll have to pay double. Bastards.

Posted: 28/08/2008 at 14:29

The Facebook group are aiming for the next demo to be last week in Sept. Either Fri morning, 9am or Wed evening 5pm. Meet Hyde Park Corner. We need a big turn out this time and some serious traffic blockage and news coverage.

There are already rumours of bikes being towed off M/C bays. The council's own meeting minutes discussed enforcement and backed away from an aggressive campaign, but that probably doesn't mean much. Covering the bike or removing a number plate no longer helps.

Expect to see CCTV being used for enforcement.

http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=67279250190

Posted: 29/08/2008 at 10:19