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BMF: Government must exempt bikes from road pricing
It should be the government's prerogative to exempt motorbikes from road-pricing schemes across the UK, the British Motorcyclists' Federation (BMF) has argued.
In response to the new draft local transport bill, the BMF has stated its belief that central government must ultimately determine the nature of congestion charge regimes, or else there will be fundamental inconsistencies between different regional systems.
The organisation is particularly keen for the government to guarantee the key role motorcycling plays in its transport policy by ensuring all powered two-wheelers are unanimously excepted from the nation's road-pricing schemes.
Government relations executive Chris Hodder explained: "For schemes to be 'interoperable and consistent', as the consultation sets out, exemptions should be set out in legislation and not in later regulation.
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"This would give clear guidance to authorities planning road-pricing schemes that revenue cannot be raised from certain vehicles and would therefore make their budgeting more realistic."
According to the BMF, there is just reason to exclude motorbikes from road-pricing as these systems are intended to reduce congestion and riders' contribution to traffic is negligible.
Authorities in Manchester have already caused controversy by flirting with the idea of including bikes in its proposed congestion charge scheme, attracting considerable criticism from local riders, as well as the Motorcycle Action Group.
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