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3 Jun 2024

People will be able to have their bikes security marked in Devon as part of a scheme to keep cyclists safe.

3 Jun 2024

An amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill, put forward by former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, that was set to introduce the offense of “causing death by dangerous,...

3 Jun 2024

A programme to get more Londoners cycling across the capital is being launched by Transport for London (TfL).

3 Jun 2024

Consumer confidence has continued its “upward momentum” despite the cost-of-living crisis remaining a daily reality for households, a survey suggests.

20 May 2024

Cycling UK has launched the Inclusive Cycling Experience, a new programme funded by the Motability Foundation, to support disabled communities in Greater Manchester and Inverness to start...

20 May 2024

ACT member Mapes of Millport, a bike shop on Cumbrae, an island in the lower Firth of Clyde in western Scotland, is riding high after being selected as the best cycle hire shop in...

20 May 2024

People who cycle to work are less likely to be prescribed drugs to treat anxiety or depression than those who commute using different modes of transport, new research shows.

20 May 2024

The cycling industry may have experienced one of its most turbulent periods in recent history, but it still represents a great opportunity for investment, according to a report...

20 May 2024

The Sustrans Walking and Cycling Index, the biggest UK survey of walking, wheeling and cycling, found only 40% of residents on low incomes had access to a cycle. This compared to 59% in...

9 May 2024

John Lewis, the UK’s largest department store, will stock the UK’s leading e-bike brand, VOLT from today. The retailer will have four models from VOLT’s award-winning range of...

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Drop in cycling traffic due to government's "flawed" decision to slash active travel budget, it is claimed.

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

New statistics showing a 5% fall in cycling from last year should be a “wake-up call for the government” and are due to the Government's "flawed" decision to slash the active travel budget, it has been claimed.

black and white picture of cycle

Cycling UK has called the latest findings "depressing” with the government lagging behind its target of doubling the number of cycling journeys by 2025.

The new figures were published by the Department for Transport (DfT). The decrease in cycling levels in England comes after the government decided to cut the active travel budget in March this year, described as a "backward move" by the Walking and Cycling Alliance at the time.

However, a recent inquiry by the National Audit Office into active travel in England confirmed Cycling UK’s claims that the government’s investment in active travel fell far short of what was needed to meet the 2025 walking and cycling targets – even before ministers made further cuts in March.

Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at Cycling UK said:  "These statistics should be wake up call for the government, which has already been told in crystal clear terms by the National Audit Office that it can’t meet its own targets without substantially increasing investment in active travel.

"Multiple government polices recognise the carbon reduction, public health, air pollution and economic benefits which flow from more people cycling and walking, particularly for short journeys. It’s therefore imperative that the government reflects on these figures, and urgently reverses the cuts in the Autumn Statement."

In July last year, the government announced that it will invest £3.78bn in active travel schemes until 2025 as part of its refreshed cycling and walking investment strategy.

Trudy Harrison, the minister formerly responsible for active travel, said that the increased funding was part of an "ambitious" strategy to ensure that half of all journeys in towns and cities will be walked or cycled by the end of the decade.

However, following the cuts, Cycling UK joined its partners in the Walking and Cycling Alliance and more than 146 other organisations, including Campaign for Better Transport and Asthma + Lung UK, to write to the prime minister highlighting the disproportionate level of cuts to funding for cycling and walking infrastructure.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also recently indicated a U-turn on his own government’s stated support for low traffic neighbourhoods, ironically one of the measures local authorities can implement to enable more people to walk and cycle safely, at a time when the government is slashing central funding because they are relatively cheap to introduce.

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