The new mobility industry says the UK Government’s announcement in today’s Autumn Budget to invest £100 million into walking and cycling infrastructure is “hugely welcome”.
The good news comes after the previous government cut active travel spending by 75% in March last year, from £200 million to £50 million.
Cycling UK’s Policy Manager Jim Densham said that today’s announced funding will help recoup those cuts and get active travel investment back to what was originally proposed.
“We’re pleased to see the Chancellor prioritise sustainable transport even despite the country’s difficult financial situation,” Jim told Zag Daily. “Today’s announcement will help return us to previous active travel levels but those levels will not be enough if the government wants to achieve its health missions going forward.”
Yesterday, Cycling UK was one of 18 organisations that signed an open letter to the Chancellor, urging 10% of the current transport budget to be invested in walking, wheeling and cycling. This equates to £2 billion per year for active travel or £50 per head – a figure recommended by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).
Though Cycling UK was not expecting a £2 billion pledge for active travel this year, Jim said: “10% of the transport budget is a reasonable level of investment if we want to see the benefits of active travel that other countries like Denmark and the Netherlands see, such as improving the health of citizens, increasing activity, and increasing local benefits.
“This investment would help the UK government meet its mission of improving the nation’s health and rescuing the NHS.”
In agreement, IPPR Head of Transport Policy Stephen Frost said: “At £100 million, the dedicated funding falls short of what’s needed to deliver on the government’s ambitions for active travel and the Department for Transport should make increasing this a priority on the conclusion of the review of its capital spending commitments.”
Nevertheless, Stephen credits the Government on today’s announcement and believes that encouraging active travel is key to delivering Labour’s goals of removing barriers to opportunity, improving public health, and supporting inclusive growth.
“The budget commitment to maintain dedicated funding for active travel into the 2025/26 financial year will provide some funding certainty and, combined with investment in city regions and other local transport projects, will see improvements made across England to how easy it is for people to get around actively.”
Simon Munk, Head of Campaigns and Community Development at London Cycling Campaign, told Zag that the £100 million investment for walking and cycling is “hugely welcome”, as is the Government’s promise of giving additional funding to Transport for London (TfL).
However, on the Government’s commitment for cars, Simon said: “The worry is the ongoing fuel duty freeze suggests the government has a long way to go to coherently and boldly deal with the impacts of unnecessary private car use. And the same concern remains for TfL and the Mayor of London too. Without more action to reduce driving, we can’t tackle climate, pollution, inactivity, road danger and more.”
