April 8th, 2019.


The London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has now been adopted in the capital city and Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs) registered prior to July 2007 are being penalised.

The MCIA has issued a statement outlining its disappointment with Transport for London’s (TfL) decision …

“The MCIA is extremely disappointed to see that riders of Powered Two Wheelers (PTWs), that occupy minimal road space and reduce traffic congestion, are charged at the same rate as single-occupancy 4x4s from the same era.

“Transport for London (TfL) has chosen a cut off registration date for PTW exemption of July 2007, even though many motorcycles and scooters registered before then do not exceed the required NOx limit of 0.15 g/km. At present, it is up to the rider to prove that their vehicle is compliant, which may require an emissions test at the cost of £175. It is not hard to imagine the uproar if a similar burden was placed on car drivers.

“As the relevant NOx information is not held by DVLA for many older PTWs, the MCIA has offered to help TfL develop a database, so that it would have access to accurate NOx data on which to establish the ULEZ status of each vehicle.

“As this is a major piece of work, the MCIA requested a delay in the introduction of PTW charging until it was completed, an idea TfL agreed to consider. However, in the run up to the ULEZ introduction date, TfL has imposed a wall of silence with regard to PTW charging and has not returned any of the MCIA’s many calls on the topic. MCIA have also called for an urgent meeting with Mayor Khan, but his office has yet to respond.

“Therefore, a situation now exists whereby riders of compliant machines are potentially charged an unnecessarily £62.50 per working week.

“The MCIA once again calls on TfL to suspend the charge for PTWs and engage on this topic, so that PTWs of all types can assume their rightful place at the heart of the air quality and congestion solution, instead of being erroneously vilified.

“Tony Campbell, MCIA CEO, commented; “The Mayor of London and TFL have simply got this wrong. PTWs can and do provide cost effective, non-congesting and in most cases, low or zero polluting transport solutions in the urban environment.

We find it quite incredible that TFL and the Mayor continue to discriminate against the users of motorcycles and scooters and to ignore their benefits, while the Mayor has failed again to support his own manifesto commitments.”