SoloBay
What does motorcycle parking cost in London?
Mostly between nothing and £2 a day, and which one depends entirely on the borough you stop in. Here is what each actually charges.
The boroughs that charge
| Borough | What a motorcycle bay costs | Bays mapped |
|---|---|---|
| Westminster | £1 a day, and that one permit covers every Westminster motorcycle bay, so you can move between them all day at no extra cost. Electric motorcycles park free. | 723 |
| Camden | £1.30 a day. Electric motorcycles pay 66p | 360 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | £2 a day where the bay has a timeplate. 49 of its bays are free. Electric motorcycles free with a nil charge PayByPhone session. | 306 |
The boroughs that do not
Some London boroughs do not charge motorcycles at all, and neither do several cities outside it. Every bay we map in these is free:
- Lambeth, 238 bays
- City of London, 59 bays
- Brighton and Hove, 413 bays, outside London but worth knowing
- City of Edinburgh, 155 bays
That is 873 bays across 11 local authorities where a solo motorcycle pays nothing.
Westminster is the one worth understanding properly. A single £1 day permit covers the whole borough, not one bay, so moving your bike three times in a day still costs £1. Riders routinely pay several times over because nothing at the bay says so.
How you pay
Most London boroughs use RingGo, and the bay's location number is on the plate. Some accept PaybyPhone or JustPark as well. There is rarely a machine, so you need a phone and the number. SoloBay carries the RingGo number for each bay and hands it straight to the app. The apps add a small fee on top: up to 30p a transaction in Westminster, 10p a session in Kensington and Chelsea, and none in Camden.
What about the rest of the country?
Outside London the honest answer is that it is signed locally and varies enormously. Of the 3,449 motorcycle bays we map nationally, 1,111 are free outright and 905 are signed locally with no published tariff, which is why we tell you to read the plate rather than guessing on your behalf.
Check before you ride
SoloBay shows what each bay costs, whether it is free right now, and when charges start again.
Open the free web app