With a hefty £3 increase in the Congestion Charge at the beginning of July, it now makes even more sense to buy a Honda scooter to get around London. With the Congestion Charge now costing a whopping £8, the money a commuter would save for a normal working year in London if they didn't have to pay the charge is £1920*.
Chelsea Solutions, a Honda scooter dealer on Fulham Road, is currently selling the Honda SCV100 Lead for £1349 on the road and also putting together a package which includes a helmet, lock, waterproof jacket, gloves and Compulsory Basic Training which comes in at just £1700.
And with insurance costs traditionally low on scooters - an average of £225 for a 30-year-old living in London with Honda's own insurance scheme - it now makes more sense than ever to commute into the city on two wheels.
Many Honda dealers in and around London are finding that people are doing the maths for themselves and making the switch to scooters. Ray Slocombe from Slocombe's Motorcycles in Willesden, North West London, had one customer come in two days before the Congestion Charge increase.
Ray said: "She had worked out what the increase to the charge was going to cost her and made the decision to buy a scooter. She'd completed her training and wanted to buy a Honda Lead. It was 3pm on a Saturday afternoon and we normally close at 4pm, but by 4.10pm we had her on her way, fully kitted-up and insured. We're finding many people are making the switch to two wheels to get around - more than half of our sales are now scooters which are just perfect for getting around London on."
Scooters and other powered-two-wheelers have long been identified as being one of the key elements in easing London's congestion problem. Here are some key facts.
* London suffers the worst traffic congestion in the UK and Europe
* Drivers in central London spend 50% of their time in queues
* The average speed of traffic in London is now just three miles per hour
* Every weekday morning, the equivalent of 25 busy motorway lanes of traffic attempts to enter central London
* It has been estimated that London loses between £2-4 million every week in terms of lost time caused by congestion
The Congestion Charge is active between 7am and 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, excluding Public Holidays. The 'boundary' of the zone is formed by the Inner Ring Road, on which there is no charge to drive. This comprises: Marylebone Road, Euston Road, Pentonville Road, City Road, Great Eastern Street, Commercial Street, Tower Bridge Road, New Kent Road, Kennington Lane, Vauxhall Bridge Road, Grosvenor Place, Park Lane and Edgware Road.
The Congestion Charge was introduced to try and cut congestion by up to 15% and raise at least £130 million a year which is to be ploughed back into the capital's transport system.
The scheme is also meant to encourage people to think again about using their vehicles in central London and to choose other forms of transport. Transport which is exempt from the charge includes: taxis, licensed minicabs, emergency services, blue/orange badge holders, alternative energy vehicles, motorcycles and scooters.
Drivers pay £8 per day by telephone, text message, post, Internet, or in person at a retail outlet. Drivers are also able to purchase weekly (£25), monthly (£110) or annual (£1250) passes. The scheme is policed by cameras on roads around the centre of the city which reads car registration plates. A tariff of charges is incurred if payment is late and if three or more payments are outstanding, then your car can be impounded and you can then be charged daily parking rates and further fines.
By riding a scooter, commuters can avoid all the hassle of paying for the charge and paying for parking. In London there are thousands of available parking spaces for bikes and scooters. You've also then got a fun and practical mode of transport to enjoy at the weekend.
For a full list of motorcycle parking bays in London, point your web browser at the parkingforbikers.com site. For more on Congestion Charging and Transport for London, go to their website listed below.
* Figure based on daily charge rate, not the annual pass of £1250 or the reduced £7 rate charged on www.fivepounds.co.uk.
Related Linkswww.parkingforbikes.com/kit/LMSPM/www.tfl.gov.uk/tflwww.fivepounds.co.uk
