Councils finally take action a year on from damning motorcycle parking report

Mounting pressure from key figures in the motorcycle industry has finally led to councils addressing the lack of designated motorcycle parking spaces across the UK, after it was revealed one year ago that only 4,241 of the UK’s 1,046,437 total parking spaces in council car parks were dedicated to motorcycles.

That number also means that just 0.41 per cent of council car park spaces were dedicated to motorcycles. However, some of the worst performing councils in this area have now taken action following pressure from the likes of motorcycle insurance broker Bikersure, and the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG).

In total, 62 dedicated spaces for motorcycles have now been added across the UK to create space for around 194 motorcycles. While this is a clear improvement, arguments could be made that this is still nowhere near enough, and that motorcyclists are still being overlooked to some degree. 

The biggest growth is found in Nottinghamshire, which has produced an additional 19 spaces. Those spaces are split across two of the local council car parks.

This means there will be enough space for roughly 58 additional bikes, while bikers in London have received 11 spaces, which is good enough for 57 machines. There’s still some concern, however, as 13 of the 65 councils included in the new report are still said to have zero dedicated spaces, bays or areas for motorcycles. 

Rob Balls, general manager of Bikesure, said this about the changes: 

“We called on local authorities to recognise the scale of the problem and address the imbalance. While the numbers still don’t add up and bikers deserve better, we’ve got to focus on the positives. Change takes time and this is a step in the right direction. We hope bikers in some of these areas, or those visiting, feel happier knowing they have extra spaces in council car parks that are dedicated to them.

“As specialists who speak to thousands of riders every week, we regularly hear concerns about parking availability and consistency. We know there needs to be more spaces for cars than bikes but we will keep banging this drum until riders are given the same consideration and consistency as car drivers when it comes to parking.”

The report also said that Bikesure’s latest round of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests showed nearly 50 per cent of the 65 councils having free spaces for motorcyclists in their car parks. But with the lack of designated parking available, this has been one of the biggest areas that creates confusion.

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