Millions of people across the country are set to benefit from £200 million of government funding for cycling and walking schemes, helping to promote healthy travel, reduce emissions and grow the economy.
The latest round of funding, will provide a boost to high streets and local businesses, and transform the school run for tens of thousands of children, generating up to 16 million extra walking and cycling trips a year.
Alongside the environmental benefits, the plans will help ease congestion across cities, with people choosing more active choices that can benefit their mental and physical health and wellbeing and relieve pressure on the NHS.
Following extensive consultation with local authorities, communities across England will benefit from new funding, with over 265 schemes in 60 areas – including Yorkshire, Manchester, Devon and Leicester – receiving a share of the latest round of funding.
The investment, announced in February of this year, will deliver a range of schemes across the country, including 121 miles of new cycle track, 77 miles of new paths and greenways and initiatives to make streets safer around 130 schools.
Active travel is also estimated to bring a £36.5 billion boost to the economy in a year through increased high street spending and better access to jobs, delivering on our priority to grow the economy.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:
We want to make sure everyone across the country can choose cheaper, greener and healthier travel while we continue to support our local businesses and grow the economy.
This £200 million investment will improve road safety, ease congestion and ultimately improve the health and wellbeing of the millions of people choosing active travel.
National Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman added:
By giving millions of people the freedom of choice to walk, wheel or cycle for everyday trips, this funding will help us improve public health, tackle climate change and give hundreds of thousands of children the independence to travel safely under their own steam.
Now our focus is working with councils to get these schemes built swiftly. We’ll be working together to ensure the projects are well-designed and effective, so that they bring maximum benefits to communities and help improve lives nationwide.
The winning projects have demonstrated they provide people with attractive choices to use cycling and walking for local journeys, and do not include any low traffic neighbourhood schemes. Local authorities have worked closely with local people to ensure the schemes benefit the community as a whole.
Successful authorities have detailed the benefits of successful schemes, including Tamworth in Staffordshire, which will use the funding to enable active and safe modes of travel to schools, while Barnstaple and Ilfracombe in Devon will see an unused railway track converted into a walking and cycling route to connect rural communities.
Safety and accessibility will be at the heart of improvements and creation of walking and cycling routes, meaning safety for women and children walking to school will be improved, and people in wheelchairs and mobility scooters will see street designs become even more inclusive.
Government funding has meant cycling across England has continued to thrive and is up 11% on pre-pandemic levels, increasing by more than 20% in the past 10 years.
Allocated funding
| Local authority | Capability level | Allocated funding |
|---|---|---|
| Bedford Unitary Authority | 1 | £263,130 |
| Blackburn with Darwen Unitary Authority | 1 | £157,270 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Unitary Authority | 2 | £3,780,000 |
| Bracknell Forest Unitary Authority | 1 | £30,000 |
| Brighton and Hove Unitary Authority | 2 | £3,000,000 |
| Buckinghamshire Unitary Authority | 2 | £477,199 |
| Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority | 2 | £3,896,590 |
| Central Bedfordshire Unitary Authority | 1 | £252,605 |
| Cheshire East Unitary Authority | 1 | £1,297,882 |
| Cheshire West and Chester Unitary Authority | 1 | £274,100 |
| Cornwall Unitary Authority | 1 | £500,000 |
| Cumbria County Council | 2 | £1,602,359 |
| Derby Unitary Authority | 1 | £140,000 |
| Derbyshire County Council | 1 | £3,005,000 |
| Devon County Council | 2 | £1,825,000 |
| Dorset Unitary Authority | 1 | £1,978,000 |
| East Riding of Yorkshire Unitary Authority | 2 | £855,200 |
| East Sussex County Council | 1 | £1,223,826 |
| Essex County Council | 2 | £5,270,000 |
| Gloucestershire County Council | 2 | £5,365,000 |
| Greater Manchester Combined Authority | 3 | £23,719,500 |
| Hampshire County Council | 2 | £2,477,515 |
| Herefordshire Unitary Authority | 1 | £306,000 |
| Hertfordshire County Council | 2 | £4,620,803 |
| Isle of Wight Unitary Authority | 1 | £700,000 |
| Isles of Scilly | 1 | £11,000 |
| Kent County Council | 1 | £1,569,000 |
| Kingston upon Hull Unitary Authority | 1 | £362,000 |
| Lancashire County Council | 2 | £5,529,992 |
| Leicester Unitary Authority | 3 | £1,800,000 |
| Liverpool City Region Combined Authority | 2 | £14,400,000 |
| Medway Unitary Authority | 1 | £486,418 |
| Milton Keynes Unitary Authority | 1 | £1,182,516 |
| Norfolk County Council | 2 | £2,240,000 |
| North East Joint Transport Committee | 2 | £7,203,211 |
| North Somerset Unitary Authority | 1 | £417,640 |
| Nottingham Unitary Authority | 3 | £1,762,288 |
| Nottinghamshire County Council | 2 | £1,081,761 |
| Plymouth Unitary Authority | 2 | £2,480,000 |
| Portsmouth Unitary Authority | 1 | £653,580 |
| Reading Unitary Authority | 2 | £75,000 |
| Shropshire Unitary Authority | 1 | £612,800 |
| Slough Unitary Authority | 1 | £413,000 |
| Somerset County Council | 2 | £1,583,322 |
| Southampton Unitary Authority | 2 | £814,464 |
| South Yorkshire Combined Authority | 2 | £2,430,943 |
| Staffordshire County Council | 1 | £669,087 |
| Stoke-on-Trent Unitary Authority | 1 | £509,320 |
| Suffolk County Council | 2 | £7,933,216 |
| Surrey County Council | 2 | £997,843 |
| Swindon Unitary Authority | 1 | £381,500 |
| Tees Valley Combined Authority | 2 | £441,269 |
| Telford and Wrekin Unitary Authority | 2 | £1,895,772 |
| Thurrock Unitary Authority | 1 | £305,000 |
| Torbay Unitary Authority | 1 | £237,366 |
| Warrington Unitary Authority | 2 | £727,950 |
| Warwickshire County Council | 2 | £4,761,000 |
| West Berkshire Unitary Authority | 1 | £275,000 |
| West Midlands Combined Authority | 3 | £12,608,201 |
| West Northamptonshire Unitary Authority | 1 | £673,314 |
| West of England Combined Authority | 2 | £3,641,803 |
| West Yorkshire Combined Authority | 3 | £17,430,668 |
| Wiltshire Unitary Authority | 1 | £978,000 |
| Windsor and Maidenhead Unitary Authority | 1 | £262,100 |
| Wokingham Unitary Authority | 2 | £606,215 |
| York Unitary Authority | 1 | £1,103,095 |
Funding is being provided for both the development and construction of schemes. Some schemes are being provided with development funding only.
