Commuting by Motorcycle - a good or a bad thing?
How does commuting by motorcycle impact on congestion during the rush hour?
On Wednesday 12th February members and associates of the MCIA (Motorcycle Industry Association) gathered at the Heritage Motor Museum to discuss their ongoing plans to promote motorcycling. During the conference a claim was put forward on behalf of the MCIA that travelling by motorcycle could be the much needed solution to the rising traffic problems around the UK, particularly during busy periods of time – i.e. the daily commute. This is an interesting and (to motorcycle lovers) exciting solution perhaps – but how in-depth are the MCIA’s claims and what evidence is there to support them?
If your commute to work is a bit bumpy - no problem on a motorbike
It is a known fact that congestion is an ever increasing problem in the UK and other parts of Europe. According to the DFT (Department for Transport) there has been an overall increase in traffic within the UK by 2.2% on motorways and by 2.8% on rural, minor roads in the last year alone.
With more and more people on the roads, congestion rates are set to rise, and at quite a shocking speed. An estimated 261 billion miles were travelled in total in the UK during 2010 with an average 19 seconds spent sitting in traffic per mile. By 2035 an estimated 375 billion miles will be travelled with an average stationary time of 32 seconds.
Motorcycling: safer, cheaper, greener?
Congestion is clearly on the rise and the government have a budget to deal with said problem. Building more roads is a possibility but one that is also time consuming and costly. The MCIA - an association made up of suppliers, manufactures and importers of PTW’s (Powered Two Wheelers) – spoke of what they called a “solution not problem”; a solution that, unlike building new roads, would not have to cost the earth.
The talk was presented by Steve Kenward, one of the MCI’s Directors, who outlined the benefits he saw in putting more motorcycles on the road as a way of easing congestion. The basic theory is that motorcycles are faster and take up less space on a road, and that in replacing a number of cars with motorcycles, there will be more space on the roads and therefore less traffic.
According to Kenward, not only would this save the government money, it would also help the economy make up the money lost on fuel from congestion. He claimed the financial savings in this ‘solution’ would not only benefit the government, but also the motorcycle rider. To support this claim he spoke of the MCIA’s ‘personal savings calculator’ set to work out the fuel, taxation, clothing and time saved when travelling for an individual motorcycle rider. All this amounting to less than if a person was to travel by car.
Kenward was also keen to point out the benefits that an increase in motorcycles would have on the environment. Apparently, there are only 7 models of vehicle that are classified as ULEV’s (ultra low emission vehicles), compared to the 50 PTW’s that qualify as being such. His message was clear – put more ULEV’s on the roads and the roads will be greener.
Another theory of the MCIA’s is that by increasing the number of motorcycles on the road, we can increase awareness of them. If there are more motorcycles on the road then car drivers will get more used to seeing them and factor them in more. Likewise, a motorcyclist would be on the look out for other motorcycle riders, and thus, with greater awareness of other road users comes greater road safety. It is a fact, he states, that car drivers who also hold a PTW license have fewer accidents than those who don’t.
Motorcycles = not exactly commuting but they do have an empty road :0)
Watch this space
So, to sum up, according to Kenward, a motorcyclist as a road user is more environmentally friendly, has more money, is less accident prone and has more quality time due to less time wasted sitting in traffic. It all sounds pretty brilliant so far, but what would happen if this theory was put into practice? Would the level of congestion actually decrease if more cars on the road were replaced by motorcycles? To what extent would the roads be safer and greener?
Before you run and grab a clip board with the intention of sitting by the side of the road counting the number of motorcycles and breathing in the fumes for research purposes, then worry not, because this study was actually carried out (a little more professionally) in Belgium in 2011, and results are already in. So watch this space and tomorrow we'll publish a summary of their findings!
Any thoughts so far? Send them to us at
[email protected] or comment on facebook or twitter we'd like to know what you think.
EN