Boost for active travel

The £257 million announced in last year’s spending review for active travel schemes has today been increased by 30% to £338 million the Department for Transport has announced. The news comes as the DfT launches their Summer of Cycling and Walking campaign, which also includes the announcement of changes to the Highway Code and new requirements to ensure that active travel schemes' effects are assessed properly. 

The updates to the Highway Code will be published in the Autumn and will include:

• a hierarchy of road users that ensures road users who can do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger they may pose to others
• strengthened pedestrian priority on pavements and when crossing or waiting to cross the road
• guidance on safe passing distances and speeds and ensuring that cyclists have priority at junctions when travelling straight ahead

CIHT are supportive of the proposed changes to The Highway Code, which the DfT consulted on in Autumn 2020, to improve safety for vulnerable road users, particularly the groups of: cyclists, pedestrians, horse riders.

The Guardian has today reported that the transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris is urging councils to stick with the low-traffic neighbourhood schemes they have put in and that abandoning the schemes could have impact of future funding for the councils.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also commented that:

"Of course some journeys by car are essential, but traffic is not a force of nature. It is a product of people’s choices. If you make it easier and safer to walk and cycle, more people choose to walk and cycle instead of driving, and the traffic falls overall."

The Summer of Cycling and Walking

The Summer of Cycling and Walking campaign is part of the Government’s ambition to ensure cycling and walking are the natural first choice for short journeys with half of all journeys in towns and cities being cycled or walked by 2030. The Summer of Cycling and Walking launches today, 30 July, and will run, in various forms, throughout the summer.

DfT are asking stakeholders to:

• Share the news about the Summer of Cycling and Walking now with your networks – make sure that as many businesses and organisations as possible have the opportunity to get involved.
• Post your support for the campaign and share what you’re up to throughout the summer.
• Include the Summer of Cycling and Walking badge on any assets, websites and email signatures as appropriate throughout the summer.
• Take a look at the Together for our Planet toolkit and share your organisation’s support for Summer of Cycling and Walking and any key successes of schemes and activities throughout the last year, using the hashtag #OneStepGreener (as well as #GetPedalling where relevant).
• Amplify DfT posts on social media.

CIHT are currently working on a number of initiatives to support more sustainable and active modes of transport including Manual for Streets, Route to Net Zero and a project on active travel and engagement. 

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