BMF welcome congestion charge exemption for Cambridgeshire

The BMF has welcomed plans from Cambridgeshire County Council to exempt motorcycles from the congestion charge.

Cambridgeshire will be the third local authority (after Durham and London) to completely exempt all motorcycles and scooters from its congestion charge proposals.

After the exemption was announced, the BMF’s Government Relations Executive Chris Hodder said: “The Government has made known its intention to “mainstream motorcycling” as part of its transport planning, but it’s good to see Cambridge setting the scene.

“Road pricing should be about reducing congestion, not simply revenue collection and as motorcycles and scooters do not contribute to congestion; do not cause wear and tear on road surfaces; produce less greenhouse gases than other vehicles and don’t require massive parking facilities, exemption is the sensible route to follow.”

Cambridgeshire’s proposed congestion scheme will be active during the morning rush hour charging all road users (apart from motorcycles and scooters) between £3 and £5. The actual charge will depend on how cooperative the user is. A tag and beacon system from Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) will be used to enforce the scheme.