February 27, 2025
The National Motorcyclists Council has called for a full and proper consideration of motorcycling within transport policy as part of its response to the Department for Transport’s (DfT) ‘Call for Evidence: Integrated National Transport Strategy: a Call for Ideas'.
Ultimately, integrated transport should be about choice, not just favouring one or two modes of transport over others. The NMC feel that the forthcoming strategy should extend and enable individual choice, so that the full range of options are available and supported for those who seek an alternative to the car. Statistics reveal that the majority of motorcyclists are regular commuter or utility transport users, with over a million who ride regularly, often in conditions that leave them more vulnerable on the roads than should be the case.
Motorcycles fulfil an important role in the overall transport network by reducing car dependency for those journeys where public transport provision is poor and distances means that walking and cycling are not viable options. They are also used as part of multi-modal travel. The NMC seeks the following approach towards motorcycling, as part of an Integrated Transport Strategy:
• Integration within transport policy at all levels.
• Integration between motorcycling and other modes
• Local policies which reduce rider vulnerability and facilitate journeys for those who ride
• A refreshed Government Motorcycling Strategy to facilitate development of motorcycling as part of an overall integrated national network of transport.
Despite approaching three decades of attempts to transition away from the ‘car economy’, including the limited pursuit of integrated policies since the early 2000s, traffic congestion and associated pollution continues to have significant adverse impacts on health, social development and the economy. Additionally, much of the travelling public worry that policy constraints personal choices, when they feel they have no other option but to use private four-wheeled transport, often for very reasonable and practical reasons.
Key elements in the transport ‘toolbox’, such as the hugely versatile, zero congesting and low or zero polluting motorcycle, have yet to be properly recognised as a transport mode. This in turn has led to inadequate focus on and investment in the measures needed to improve safety and enhance accessibility in relation to motorcycling for both commuter and leisure usage.
It has had the effect of sustaining higher levels of rider vulnerability on the roads than should be the case. In effect, a ‘dis-virtuous circle’ of safety has emerged, where motorcycle safety is seen as a problem, so motorcycle use can’t be facilitated or protected as a transport mode, with this leading to the rejection of measures which may reduce rider vulnerability, such as access to bus lanes and motorcycle friendly roads infrastructure. Safety doesn’t improve and the original concern about motorcycle safety remains. The NMC feels that the forthcoming Integrated Transport Strategy represents an opportunity to break the dis-virtuous circle and open up the opportunities that motorcycling represents for mobility and society as a fully integrated part of transport policy.
NMC Executive Director Craig Carey-Clinch said: “Motorcycling is a dynamic transport sector which, aside from being a viable and attractive alternative mode of transport, also represents a notable contribution to society, the environment and the economy. Motorcycles are already contributing to a low carbon future and their wider use can accelerate progress towards this end. Traffic congestion and pollution can be cut at a stroke through a modal shift to commuter motorcycles right now. We call on the DfT to recognise the potential that motorcycling offers to transport policy within the forthcoming Integrated Transport Strategy and alongside this, to work with the NMC to develop a positive policy approach to support those who ride both now and in the future.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. For a copy of the consultation response, or for further comment from the NMC please contact Craig Carey-Clinch, on 07979 757484 | craig@uknmc.org
(Photo: Shutterstock - Marius Comanescu)
