Boris u-turns with threat on bus lane usage

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

For around 18 months, No To Bike Parking Tax have run a campaign against charges imposed by Westminster Council for parking in motorcycle bays.

The campaign initially began with 4,000 motorbikes showing up at City Hall to deliver letters of protest, but more recently the group has held various rallies in the Westminster area, normally Trafalgar Square, to have their message heard.

Asked what he thinks of Westminster Council’s parking charges, Boris Johnson has previously said, quite fairly:

“My particular concern is about central London traffic congestion arising from recent demonstrations by motorcyclists congregating at Trafalgar Square. I would like to see the dispute resolved through common ground being found between WCC and motorcyclists around the operation of parking schemes in Westminster.”

But now, Boris Johnson has reneged on that will to see the dispute resolved through common ground, and is hardballing the protesters, threatening to discontinue the scheme to allow motorcycles to use bus lanes in London unless No To Bike Parking Tax end their campaign, even before the independent study into its effects can occur.

Boris Johnson had previously said that the only determining factors on whether or not to make the provision for motorcyclists in bus lanes permanent – the trial for which is due to finish on July 5th – would be “based on the findings of the independent report that was commissioned to study the effects of the trial.”

That commitment was apparently binned on the hop last night by Johnson, who bumped into some of the protesters in Trafalgar Square last night: