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25 Mar 2024

When ACT member E-Motion Electric Vehicle Company in Swindon found that its outside wall had been vandalised with graffiti tags, manager Mark Butler decided to tidy it up a bit.
So Mark and...

22 Mar 2024

Rob Brown, co-director of Dalby Forest Cycle Hub, a not-for-profit hire scheme has been nominated for the Tourism Superstar 2024 award, run by VisitEngland.

14 Mar 2024

The Association of Cycle Traders has held productive discussions with the Cycle to Work Alliance around the issue of Cycle to Work reform, following the news that more than 650 independent bike...

12 Mar 2024

ACT parent company, Bira – the British Independent Retailers’ Association -  has said that the Chancellor’s decision to reduce national insurance rates could offer a...

11 Mar 2024

The Cycle to Work Alliance and the Association of Cycle Traders have identified common areas of interest around Cycle to Work reform.

11 Mar 2024

Cytech, the internationally recognised training and accreditation scheme for bicycle technicians, has launched a new Facebook group - the Cytech Tech Forum –...

11 Mar 2024

Proposed government changes to regulations and legislation governing EAPCs (Electrically assisted pedal cycles), which could see a doubling in the power of e-bikes to 500W and allowing ebikes to...

8 Mar 2024

Daniel Blackham, editor of industry magazine BikeBiz, has been writing about his experience of completing the Cytech technical one qualification at training provider Spokes People in Milton...

7 Mar 2024

ACT member and Cytech-accredited retailer JE James Cycles – one of the largest independent cycle retailers in Europe – is to open a new 7,874 sq ft store shop in Barnsley town...

6 Mar 2024

Cytech partner Activate Cycle Academy, the largest and most recognised training provider of bike maintenance and technical training courses to the UK’s cycle industry, recently welcomed a...

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Calls for change after ‘chronic underfunding’ of walking and cycling in England.

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

People across England are missing out on a slew of health, wellbeing and environmental benefits due to half a century of “chronic underfunding” of its streets, according to Cycling UK.

cycling in the park

This follows the release of a new report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), supported by the charity. The report provides evidence of the multiple benefits that come from investment in walking, wheeling and cycling. This includes the creation of green jobs, boosting economic growth and making streets safer, in addition to proven health, wellbeing and environmental benefits.

  • Increasing levels of cycling to those seen in Denmark would save the NHS £17 billion over 20 years by improving people’s health and wellbeing.
  • Doubling cycling and increasing walking is estimated to prevent 8,300 premature deaths and save £567 million a year through improved air quality.
  • Investment in walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure offers better value for the public purse than money spent on road building projects and is considerably lower cost, as the report makes clear.
  • For every £1 spent on Active Travel, there is an average return on investment of £5.62, compared with £2.50 for roads.

However, spending on walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure can have a maximum return of up to £19 per £1 spent, while some road building projects offer no return on investment at all.

Sarah Mitchell, Cycling UK’s chief executive, said: “Spending on Active Travel is one of the most secure investments that a government can make, something that the new report by IPPR makes crystal clear. People want the choice to walk, wheel or cycle to get around their local neighbourhoods, but they can’t do it without a well-designed, joined-up network of suitable paths.

“When it comes to investing in Active Travel, Scotland and Wales are investing to reap the benefits that come from increased spending, while England remains the poor relation. It seems the UK Government didn’t get the memo and we therefore hope this new research will shift attitudes across Westminster so that walking, wheeling and cycling shoots up the list of investment priorities.

“It’s never been more important to prioritise investing in schemes like the National Cycle Network and we fully support IPPR’s call for the NCN to have a 10-year investment plan.”

England has some of the lowest cycling and walking rates in Europe, because investment in Active Travel has historically been low across the nation.

Fewer than one in five people walk, wheel or cycle on an average day compared to more than one in four across Europe.

Among IPPR’s recommendations is that the Government puts in place a 10-year investment guarantee for walking, wheeling and cycling with a commitment to spend at least £35 per head every year on physical infrastructure.

Current spending levels correspond to £24 per head annually in London between 2016 and 2021, while the rest of England spent at £10 per head.

At the same time, spending on roads amounts to an equivalent of £148 per person per year; more than 10 times the amount spent on Active Travel.

The report also recommends that spending on Active Travel should be at least 10% of the total transport budget, instead of the 2% it is currently.

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