The Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCIA) has renewed its efforts to secure a change in the licensing regime for bikes and other powered light vehicles. The association has launched a new document, produced with its transport consultant, the Zemo Partnership, which aims to show the benefits to wider society from progress in expanding light vehicle use, including bikes.
The document – Delivery Roadmap for Net Zero Transport – looks at the entire infrastructure needed for decarbonising road transport and outlines the key interventions it believes are required. There’s ‘emphatic support’ for the use of smaller and lighter vehicles to reduce emissions and congestion, which has a big role for electric machinery and existing clean internal combustion-powered two-wheelers.
There are two key takeaways from the document for bikes: Zemo calls into question the Department for Transport’s rejection of default bus lane access and its accompanying statement that the government has “no policy to encourage greater use of motorcycles.” Zemo says that a decisive policy shift is urgently needed if the government is committed to decarbonising transport, enhancing urban efficiency, and ensuring affordable and greener personal mobility in suburban and rural areas.
The second point covers licensing for light vehicle users, including bikes. The roadmap document urges the government to simplify PLV user licensing by 2026. The last government committed to a licensing review before the election, and the MCIA also calls on the new administration to retain this pledge and initiate the review process without delay.
In addition to bus lane use and licence simplification, the roadmap outlines a suite of transformative policies to decarbonise and modernise transport. These include increasing awareness of PLV benefits among transport planners, stimulating the industrial supply chain, reforming outdated regulation, and implementing grants and incentives to encourage businesses and consumers to adopt PLVs.
MCIA CEO Tony Campbell said: “I welcome the publication of Zemo’s Delivery Roadmap for Net Zero Transport. Its evidence-based findings underscore the importance of a multi-path approach to achieving net zero, emphasising the critical role of smaller, lighter vehicles.
“The roadmap recommends urgent policy measures to drive the uptake of mopeds, motorcycles, and other powered light vehicles. I hope this document serves as a wake-up call for the government to fully harness the L-Category sector’s potential to accelerate decarbonisation – the time for action is long overdue.
“I particularly support the document’s call for a user licensing review for the L-Category sector as a matter of urgency. Since launching our A Licence to Net Zero campaign last October, MCIA has been making the case that simplifying the licensing regime is a prerequisite to improving adoption of energy-efficient personal mobility and encouraging a shift away from congestion-inducing cars and vans.”