The former national-level racing cyclist and marketing agency CEO who was appointed by Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street as the region’s first cycling & walking commissioner in December 2021 works with Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), local council partners and the Department for Transport to steer the region’s cycling and walking policies and plans. 

What does a cycling and walking commissioner do? 

My role is to accelerate West Midlands plans for active travel and deliver Mayor Andy Street’s manifesto which is strong on active travel. I’m looking at resources, building consensus, securing funding and engaging with communities.

What have you learned from the first five months on the job? 

I thought my first six months would be spent trying to win the argument for active travel, but the political consensus on decarbonisation is already there in the West Midlands.

How do you communicate the need for more active travel? 

I always say the cost of doing nothing is so great that it’s just not an option. The Department of Transport’s own data suggests that, even with the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, road traffic would increase by around 51% by 2050! So the cost of doing something becomes the easy option. We can’t afford congestion like that, and that’s before you even talk about climate change, air quality or public health.

What is your biggest challenge?

The political will is there, the budget is there but the challenge is project delivery. We secured our City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement of £1.03bn and £254m of that is for projects that enable active travel. But the current pace for delivery in active travel won’t meet requirements. Our local transport plan states that we need to have a 700% increase in cycling to meet our #WM2041 climate goals! We are looking at how we can be most effective working with our delivery partners, the local authorities.

How can CIHT members contribute to active travel? 

Transport professionals can present the conversation that it’s not about if but how. Transport professionals can really sell the benefits and look at areas where high impact can be made without compromising in other areas. In the West Midlands, for example, we have many arterial roads that are ripe for segregated protected cycling without reducing capacity or having to have that fight about a trade-off. Those difficult conversations will come, but to get started, there are places we can make a big impact now; we have to be more pragmatic.

Any plans for National Walking Month this month? 

In Birmingham, 25% of our car journeys are under one mile. I want every month to be National Walking Month!

Where do you draw inspiration from – locally, regionally, nationally and internationally? 

I look to Chris Boardman who I know well, and is continually innovating in this area. I look to the Netherlands, and the choices they made. Paris has made some interesting transformations in a short space of time. And the tactical urbanism in New York. You can learn a lot by looking around the world.

>>> Why not take CIHT’s introduction to sustainable transport online course which is free to members?

Photo credit: WMCH