I used to have to leave 20 minutes early as finding a space was rather hard. They just about doubled the spaces and then brought the charge in, which seemed fair to me. Plenty of space for everyone then.
Depends on how far back you go. When I started riding into Westminster and parking, there were plenty of official places and lots of unofficial pavement parking. Then there was a tightening of the screws for 10 years or so where pavement parking became illegal and enforced and official bays disappeared all over the place (eg middle of Northumberland ave). By 2007 it was getting seriously hard to find a space. This also coincided with a big increase in scooter use by people trying to avoid the congestion charge and tube/price price hikes.
THEN, Westminster add some spaces and introduce charges and what you describe happened. So did they add spaces or did they simply return us to late 90s levels and simultaneously reduce demand with the charge? Meanwhile, The City had the same problem but dealt with it by doubling the number of spaces without introducing a charge.
If this now spreads to Camden, Islington, Hackney, Chelsea, how's this going to work? Will we have to pre-register all our bikes with each borough in turn?
THEN, Westminster add some spaces and introduce charges and what you describe happened. So did they add spaces or did they simply return us to late 90s levels and simultaneously reduce demand with the charge? Meanwhile, The City had the same problem but dealt with it by doubling the number of spaces without introducing a charge.
If this now spreads to Camden, Islington, Hackney, Chelsea, how's this going to work? Will we have to pre-register all our bikes with each borough in turn?