Sport England’s executive director for property Charles Johnston says this is a golden opportunity to encourage cycling and walking after the government published a new report marking a year since they mapped out their plan to spend £2 billion on active travel.
According to figures published in the report, cycling has risen by 46% in the past year – compared to 2019-20 – driven by an increase in leisure cycling, less traffic and the re-allocation of road space to protect cyclists.
The government wants to capitalise on this and is promoting this summer as the ‘summer of cycling and walking’, alongside a commitment to construct hundreds of miles of new high-quality cycle lanes, make improvements to the National Cycle Network and aid the delivery of new schemes to encourage walking.
Plans also include changes to the Highway Code to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians.
The plan outlining government’s vision for walking and cycling in England can be found here.
Posted on 9th August 2021