Author: scootnz
WCC parking update from Jon Visser
“Happy New Year and I have some good news. I have just finished a meeting with our traffic engineers, who have agreed with the following proposed traffic resolutions (subject to public consultation & agreement by Councillors):
* Addition of a new P120 Motorcycles-Only parking bay in the Victoria Street parking lay-by opposite Scooterazzi. The time restriction discourages all-day parking (e.g. commuters or stock for sale) thereby making it more likely that riders can get a park.
* Addition of two new Motorcycles-Only parking bays in College Street (to replace the space that was lost). One of these will be time restricted (P120) to support the small cafe businesses at the western end, the other will be approximately 6m of unrestricted space at the eastern end (not highly utilised by cars).
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NZTA reviewing driver licensing fees
Link to NZTA consultation page. Submissions close 26 Feb 2010.
Driver Licence fees increases proposed as just one option of several. Some fees proposed to be reduced. See page 12 of the “Information Page” for the summary of proposed fees.
Low volume fees – no proposed increase of the $41 for the Basic Motorcycle Handling Skills Test.
WCC traffic resolutions – additional motorcycle parks
WCC have put forward a number of traffic resolutions, submissions close 5th Feb 2010.
Several include additional motorcycle parking.
WCC propose removing the Mercer St motorcycle park
If you had heard of the recent proposal to change Manners Mall from it’s current pedestrian only status to being a glorified bus lane – and weren’t very interested, think again.
Buried in the details are a proposal to remove the current Mercer St motorcycle parking area (currently providing space for at least 30 motorcycles and scooters), and replacing it with angled car parking for ten cars.
There is also a proposal to put a motorcycle parking space on the other side of Mercer St, but its only about the equivalent of two car spaces, adjacent to a loading zone.
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Government announces 2010/11 ACC levy rates
“The Government has opted for more moderate motorcycle levy increases than ACC recommended. [from 1st July 2010] Mopeds 50cc and under will pay $129.24; motorbikes up to 600cc will pay $327.70; and bikes over 600cc will pay $426.92. As part of the motorcycle levy, $30 will now be committed to injury prevention modelled on the successful programme in Victoria, Australia. My message to motorcyclists is the escalating costs of motorcycle accidents cannot be ignored but ACC wants to work with you on improving safety.”
Note that these amounts are just the ACC levy portion of a motorcycle vehicle licence, not including the other fees charged by NZTA.
For the ACC levy portion of the Licencing fee charged by NZTA, there are now three categories (following are the petrol categories):
Category Was: Will be:
Mopeds (up to 49/50cc) 58.97 129.24
Motorcycles (50 to 600cc) 252.69 327.70
Motorcycles (600+cc) 252.69 426.92
(Vintage – over 40 years old 58.97 69.46)
“The Government does not believe that there are sufficient motorcycles in the 50-125cc range to justify a separate class, so has opted for a single class for motorcycles up to 600cc.” (extract from this document: Questions and Answers)
On top of these levies are the other fees charged by NZTA.
Listen here to Nick Smith giving the clear impression that car owners are all paying extra to save motorcyclists paying a lot more: Link to Checkpoint MP3
Scoot NZ 