Bikers in the West Midlands ‘deserve better’ despite one location being ranked as BEST place in the UK when it comes to motorcycle parking in council car parks

Only 426 of the area’s 79,527 total parking spaces* in council car parks are dedicated to motorcycles - a paltry 0.54%. Those motorcycle-specific spaces** may have enough room to fit approximately*** 871 bikes in them but it still leaves a huge shortfall when compared against the number of riders in the West Midlands. 

The lack of provision means just 0.73% of the area’s registered 118,900 bikes are able to park in bays that are allocated exclusively to them in authorities’ off-street parking facilities.

The eye-opening statistics were unearthed by Bikesure, the UK’s largest motorcycle insurance broker, which has produced one of the most in-depth reports ever seen on the issue and shows a serious lack of parking provision for motorbikes.

Calculations were based on the following:

• Most cars can take advantage of a one-bay-per-vehicle offering but the majority of allocated motorbike parking comes in a shared form by way of larger bays or areas that have the room to fit multiple machines

• Therefore, to provide the most accurate picture of demand versus capacity, the number of registered bikes in an area was divided by the approximate number of motorbikes that can fit in its designated motorcycle parking spaces

• This gave a comparison-based percentage to draw the best conclusions on how councils, counties, regions and countries are serving two-wheel motorists

Other key takeaways from the West Midlands include:

• Stratford-on-Avon District Council provides the most assigned motorcycle parking spaces in the UK. Its purpose built 150-space facility is designed specifically – and only – for motorbikes

• It was created to prevent bikes lining the waterside and forms a giant portion of the 159 bike-specific total in the district. It means the motorcycle hot spot in the West Midlands has dedicated a whopping 5% of all its spaces in car parks to bikes

• Warwickshire is the county that accommodates the most bikes in the region (320 in 195 spaces) and has the second-highest percentage of its total spaces (1.85%) dedicated to bikes in the country

• Despite these impressive stats, with zero dedicated areas for motorbikes in car parks in Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, Staffordshire Moorlands and South Staffordshire, the region is left floundering in sixth position for England

• Riders in Coventry may also not be aware that they’re not permitted to use council car parks. It does have a designated motorcycle area but that only has 15 spaces - mad given it’s a city!

• Only the councils of Herefordshire (room for 93 bikes), Warwick (90) and Wychavon (64) come anywhere close to matching Stratford’s motorcycle provision

Data obtained from 362 authorities across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland shows only 0.76% of the 1.4 million registered motorcycles in the UK are able to park in dedicated slots for two-wheel motorists.

The stats do not take into account spaces, bays or areas that allow both bikes and cars to use them. This is because with almost 40 million drivers on the road compared to 3.6 million bikers, it’s likely that a majority of those will already be filled long before a motorbike tries to park up.

Rob Balls, Bikesure general manager, said: “Our findings lay bare the reality that UK motorcyclists are being undoubtedly overlooked when it comes to the safe and secure parking of their machines.

“It's concerning to us that, despite there being over 1.4 million licensed bikes on our roads, our councils have made provisions for fewer than 12,000 of them. This just doesn't feel good enough. It’s time for all local authorities to recognise the scale of the problem and start addressing the imbalance. The numbers just don’t add up, and bikers deserve better."

The damning under-representation looks even worse when you consider there are roughly 34 million registered cars in the four countries. Every 30 in 1,000 cars are being catered for by councils, but only seven in 1,000 motorcycles - over four times less.

The misery continues for bikers even if there are any dedicated motorbike spaces available in the first place with confusion reigning when it comes to rules around parking in off-street car parks. This includes no uniformity in the size of dedicated bays, the ability to use them being contingent on how others have parked and confusing parking communications that remain open to misinterpretation. Some bikers are even prohibited from leaving their machine in certain car parks, while others are instructed to park in a “sensible area” – but not in bays. 

Mr Balls added: “It’s disappointing that things don’t look great in the West Midlands. Regardless of the figures, we believe that riders deserve the same consideration and consistency as is given to car drivers. Clearer rules, fairer charges, and safer, designated areas would go a long way in helping bikers feel recognised and respected on the road.”

Visit the Bikesure website to see how the West Midlands compares to the rest of the UK and read the in-depth report in full.

* Every effort has been made to consider the figures listed as totals as being correct but these are based on council-provided data which, in some rare cases, includes estimates. The number does include disabled bays but does not factor in other types of spaces (EV charging, lorry bays, resident bays etc)

**The term spaces covers all motorcycle-specific parking provided by a council regardless of whether they describe it as a space, bay or area throughout this report

*** Many single motorcycle specific spaces, bays or areas can accommodate more than one bike and this figure takes that into account. Where a council has been unable to provide a concrete figure or estimate, it has been considered to be a standard size. This, based on data, suggests that one bike-specific space is able to accommodate three bikes.