The government is to invest £214m into making cycling safer in the UK as part of plans to double the number of journeys made on bikes by 2020.
Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg – who made the announcement today (27 November) at a cycling summit in Bristol – said it was the largest single investment in cycling ever made. He added that it brought the total invested in cycling by the coalition government to £588m.
“I want to bring cycling down from the Alps and onto British streets,” he said.
“The inspiration and legacy of the 2012 Olympics and the Tour de France starting in Yorkshire this year has started a revolution in cycling for everyone, not just in velodromes, not necessarily in lycra, but for going to school or to work or to the shops.”
The £214m will be divided into two separate funds.
A total of £114m will be invested to support the Cycling Ambition Cities Programme for the next three years (Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Oxford) to accelerate their development of local cycling networks.
The remaining £100m will be used to improve the conditions for cyclists and walkers travelling alongside and crossing the Strategic Road Network – Britain’s most important and busiest roads.
On top of the investment, the deputy prime minister will also launch two new initiatives to help inspire a new generation of cyclists.
High street retailer Halfords, which will recondition and donate bikes and helmets to primary school children in disadvantaged areas of the eight current cycling cities
A new pilot scheme will enhance the Bikeability cycle training programme to provide extra training to schools and parents, each designed to address a specific barrier to cycling.
Olympic gold medallist cyclist Chris Boardman welcomed the plans.
“This is a great stepping stone on the road to creating a safer environment and enabling more Brits to choose cycling as their preferred mode of transport,” he said.
“The new funds are fantastic for the 8 cycling cities – giving them more security to plan for the next 3 years and I thoroughly welcome the announcement. The benefits of cycling – as outlined by the Deputy Prime Ministers speech and in the press release – show how investing in cycling will pay dividends. If we want to a cycling revolution, something I truly believe we can achieve, we have to invest in it, commit to it long term.
“To that end, the next step, building on today’s announcement, is to make investment like this one a permanent, embedded and an ongoing part of our transport strategy. If we do, then the benefits for our nation’s health, wealth and environment will be monumental.”
Recent research, commissioned by British Cycling, found that if the UK increased its cycling levels to those of Netherlands or Denmark it would save the NHS £17bn within 20 years.
Road deaths would also be reduced by 30 per cent.
