Don’t want to pay congestion charge?

Don’t want to pay congestion charge?

The way around is simple. Start motorcycle commuting and you could avoid to pay congestion charge all together. So far London is the only city in the UK to operate the scheme and it’ll cost you £8,- per day if you enter the congestion charge zone on 4 wheels between 7am - 6.30pm Monday to Friday (excluding Public Holidays). But here's the good news: Motorcycles are exempt!

Edinburgh City Council has long been thinking about implementing similar measures to reduce traffic (or make money?). A public referendum has been held about it in 2004 and as a result the plans where put on ice. I’m sure there has been talk about other traffic management plans in a city near you and it only seems a matter of time until you have to pay congestion charge in all major UK cities.

Back to money saving matters though; wether you’re travelling by car, bus or train, you’ll be well aware of the attached costs. To illustrate how much money you could save by commuting on two (motorised) wheels I added up my costs to get on the road with my scooter:

CBT £70,-

Helmet £300,-

Gloves £25,-

Jacket £149,-

Backpack £30,-

Vespa 125cc LX £2299,-

Lock £40,-

Insurance p/a (fully comp, 0 NCB, scooter not garaged) £350,-

Total £3263,-

The bike came taxed (£15 per year) and an MOT is only due afte 3 years. I’m planning to sell the bike after 3 years and will probably still get +/- £1000,- for it if I look after it. The bike makes more that 70 miles to the gallon. I put £3.50 worth of fuel in it per week and that is enough for my daily trip to work, see friends, go shopping, etc. But best of all - You don't have to pay congestion charge!!!

So, this is what commuting/my general mobility costs me for 3 years:

Bike+all the gear and CBT £3263,-

Tax for 2 years 2x£15,-

Services 4x£45,-

Insurance 2x£350,-

Petrol@current rate for 3 years 3x£182,-

Value of bike if selling after 3 years (great!) -£1000,-

Total £3719,-

That makes a grand total of just over £1200 (£1239.66) per year.

Buying a Vespa, running and maintaining it and getting all the kit only costs me £1240,- per year!!! That’s just over £ 100,-per month…

The only extra cost would be renewing your CBT (70,-) every two years, or if you caught the bug, do the full motorcycle license for about 300,-. Insurance will go down if you have no claims or you have a garage. Also, if you’re buying your next bike you’ve got all the kit already!

How much does YOUR commute cost you? (Remember that last bill when something broke on your car?)

Do you really still want to pay congestion charge?

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