CIHT welcomes today’s announcement of £77m investment in cycling in cities and urban areas.  The money will be divided between eight cities and is a positive move to increase cycling participation in these areas.  There will also be £17m made available to four national parks.

CIHT is fully supportive of sustainable travel as the use of modes such as cycling offers a wide range of benefits including promoting active travel, reduced congestion, improved sustainability, enhanced quality of life and place, economic productivity, improved health, education, a partial response to climate change, and tackling social inequality / deprivation.

Levels of cycle use and investment in cycling in the UK has been considerably lower than is achieved in many other western European nations and is very variable across the country.

CIHT welcomes this announcement and the subsequent focus on cycling as achieving a situation where many more people choose to make trips by cycle requires significant behavioural change and considerable sustained investment at the local and national level, and in rural communities.  

CIHT supports the development of programmes that integrate investment in both high quality infrastructure and smarter choices, and that prioritise cycle traffic alongside improved facilities for pedestrians and enhanced public transport.  We encourage the trialling and rolling out of innovative solutions to improve the convenience and safety of routes used by cyclists.  

CIHT would also welcome a coordination on design standards regarding what comprises good practice because this would limit the amount of research duplication that could take place.

Further details on today’s announcement can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-shifts-cycling-up-a-gear