With nearly 60%¹ more commuters expected to join the public transport commute in and out of London, the rising appeal of motorcycles looks to be the solution to easing the surge of users on the network following the ULEZ expansion in August this year.  

A recent survey led by specialist motorbike insurance broker, Bikesure, reveals that over half (58.5%) of Londoners are resorting to public transport for their commute and nearly 57% are considering switching from four wheels to two to avoid the daily ULEZ charge. The same survey in 2021 found that 36.1% of Londoners would have considered switching to public transport – showing a rise in demand for the transport services and instilling worries over whether it will be able to cope. 

Currently, the commuting times in the city are a staggering 74 minutes² – almost twice the worldwide average of 40 minutes. And a whopping 1.2 billion³ people travelled on public transport between December 2022 and April of this year, which is 200 million more than the same period the year before.  

To combat the growing congestion on public transport and avoid the ULEZ charge, one option is to switch to a motorcycle – with over half of those surveyed considering making the change from cars to benefit from more than just avoiding ULEZ.  

“Motorcycles are a great option to consider avoiding the daily £12.50 charge in central and greater London as almost all motorcycles that have been produced since 2007 are ULEZ compliant, with a large variety of models that also meet the emission standard. Alongside this, they are exempt from the congestion charge, are cheaper to run and motorcyclists can benefit from lots of free motorcycle parking. 

“We believe that motorcycles appear to find a balance between personal autonomy, cost and environmental impact for many road users.” Said Robert Balls, Sales and Motorcycle Underwriting Manager from Bikesure.   

Another way of steering clear of the charge is going electric, with over half of respondents considering upgrading their car to an electronic vehicle. This extends to motorcyclists too, as nearly 73% of bikers say that ULEZ has made them more likely to consider switching to electric for commuting, showing that they are also willing to go further to improve their environmental impact.  

To help purify the air in central and greater London, the current Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is being expanded further on the August 29^th. It is expected to reach as far as Enfield in the north, Upminster in the east, Croydon in the south, and Heathrow in the west. 

end

 

 

These findings were sourced from a survey of 1,000 Greater London drivers from 10^th – 15^th May 2023 

¹ This figure is taken from the survey results which state that 58.5% of people surveyed would consider switching to public transport for their commute. 

² https://www.instantoffices.com/blog/featured/commuting-for-work-london/ 

³ https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/public-transport-journeys-type-transport - the excel document on the page details a total of 1,268.7 million people making journeys on the different public transport available in London from 11 December 2022 to 29 April 2023. This has been compared to 1,036.6 million from 12 December 2022 to 30 April 2023.  

 

 

 

article supplied