Mixed response from cycling industry to Government's announcement of £4.5bn investment over next 5 years
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News
Cycling industry leaders and campaigners have given a mixed response to the Government’s new £4.5 billion Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3), with some describing it as a “big step forward” while others warned it still falls short of what is needed.
Published last week, the strategy sets out the Government’s plan for active travel in England to 2035, with a headline ambition for 55% of all short urban journeys to be walked, wheeled or cycled by then, backed by £4.5bn of projected investment over the next five years.
The strategy also commits to getting 60% of children aged five to 16 walking or cycling to school by 2035, alongside a national safe routes to school programme, 5,000 new walking, wheeling and cycling routes, and 10,000 safer crossings linking homes to schools, high streets and local services by 2030.
The Government says the plan is designed to position active travel as a public health, economic growth and transport priority, with an estimated £10.5bn annual saving to the NHS linked to increased physical activity.
Cycling UK welcomed the publication of the strategy but said it was “disappointed” by what it described as a lack of focus on tackling inequalities in cycling participation, particularly among women and underrepresented groups. A spokesperson for Cycling UK said: “The ambition is welcome, but ambition alone won’t close the gap unless delivery reaches the people currently left behind by active travel policy.”
Industry analysis has pointed to the significance of measurable targets returning to the strategy after criticism that early consultation drafts lacked accountability. Writing in her Substack analysis, cycling journalist and writer Laura Laker said: “For the first time in a while, there is a sense of structure behind the rhetoric, and that matters because active travel has too often been treated as optional rather than essential transport policy.
"The inclusion of clear targets and school travel goals is significant because it gives local authorities something tangible to work towards, but the real test will be whether funding reaches the ground consistently and quickly enough.”
Cycling Electric editor Mark Sutton noted that the strategy marks a notable shift in tone, particularly in how active travel is now framed alongside economic and health outcomes rather than purely environmental goals, highlighting the long-term certainty of a 10-year vision and the commitment to mapping a national active travel network by 2030 as key structural changes that could support industry confidence.
Meanwhile, Jon Harker, Editor of Cycling Industry News, pointed to the context of CWIS2, where many targets were missed, including cycling journey growth, showing the scale of the challenge facing the latest strategy, noting that while CWIS2 delivered progress in infrastructure and awareness, national cycling volumes fell short of target, underlining concerns that ambition has not always translated into delivery.
Former Cycling & Walking Commissioner Adam Tranter, who helped coordinate an open letter from more than 50 organisations calling for measurable targets, said the revised strategy had addressed many of those concerns. He said: “Previous strategies have not been successful, and the CWIS2 report to Parliament confirmed what most of us already knew: some progress, but nowhere near enough.
"CWIS3 has the right narrative, some good targets and a credible structure, but whether 2035 looks different to 2025 comes down to whether delivery matches the rhetoric.”
Tranter also welcomed the inclusion of the HS2 cycleway, describing it as an “exciting prospect” for long-distance and regional connectivity between London and Birmingham.
To see the full Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3) and the Government’s latest active travel plans in full, click here.