Queensland Citizens draws to the attention of the House if motorcycles and scooters were exempt from road tolls and were allowed to park on footpaths in urban areas, traffic congestion would ease and congestion costs would decrease.

Exempting motorcycles and scooters from all road tolls in Queensland would provide a great financial incentive for more motorists to shift from cars to motorcycles and scooters when commuting. Queensland has good weather for riding, leads the way with single seat registration available for motorcycles and lane filtering has been recently introduced. Overseas research has shown that a 10% shift from cars to motorcycles and scooters can lead to a 40% reduction in congestion in some traffic scenarios. Motorcycles and scooters are considered to be congestion neutral in traffic due to their smaller size, ability to lane filter and accelerate quicker than cars. A Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics study, "Traffic and congestion cost trends for Australian capital cities", estimates congestion costs for Brisbane metropolitan road traffic rising from $2.3 to $5.9 billion (2015-2030). Motorcycles and scooters can easily be parked on a majority of footpaths without impeding pedestrian traffic as is done in a great many cities around the world. This model is employed successfully in Melbourne.  Footpath parking provides more motorcycle parking without taking car spaces away from motorists.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to exempt motorcycles and scooters from all road tolls in Queensland and allow motorcycle and scooter parking on footpaths.