With nearly 60% more commuters expected to join the public transport commute to the capital, concerns are being raised as to whether London’s public transport network will be able to cope with a surge of users when the ULEZ expansion continues in August.
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 in the wake of the ULEZ expansion. 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.
To help purify the air in central and greater London, the current Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is being expanded further from August 29th. 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, and this has prompted locals to question their preferred methods of transport.
Currently, the commuting times in the city are a staggering 74 minutes – almost twice the worldwide average of 40 minutes. And a whopping 1.2 billion 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 ULEZ compliant 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.
Read Bikesure’s ULEZ 2023 Report here: https://www.bikesure.co.uk/bikesureblog/2023/07/ulez-survey/