Survey reveals 8 out of 10 people support measures to reduce road traffic and two-thirds support reallocating road space for active travel.

Published 13 November 2020 From:Department for Transport

• £175 million announced for high-quality cycling and walking infrastructure across England to make local journeys safer for all

• comes as survey reveals nearly 8 out of 10 people support measures to reduce road traffic in their neighbourhood, and two-thirds of people support reallocating road space for walking and cycling

• funding allocated alongside strict plans set out by the Transport Secretary to ensure councils consult local communities

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has today (13 November 2020) given councils across England a further £175 million to create safe space for cycling and walking as surveys and independent polls show strong public support for high-quality schemes. The new money, part of the £2 billion announced for cycling and walking in May, will fund measures including:

• ‘School Streets’, where streets around schools are closed to motorists at school times

• low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), where residential side streets are closed to through traffic to stop rat-running

• segregated cycle lanes

• pedestrian improvements

These will give people more opportunities to choose cycling and walking for their day-to-day journeys, as part of wider government plans to boost active travel. However, the Transport Secretary has set tough new conditions on councils receiving funding, requiring them to ensure schemes are properly consulted on. This will help avoid the problems seen in a minority of the schemes developed in the first round of funding. If these conditions are not met by a council, the Transport Secretary has been clear that future funding allocations will be reduced and claw-backs could also be imposed. The funding comes as a survey undertaken by Kantar Media last month reveals that 65% of people across England support reallocating road space to cycling and walking in their local area. Nearly 8 out of 10 people (78%) support measures to reduce road traffic in their neighbourhood. In London, independent polling by Redfield & Wilton shows 19% of people oppose LTNs, 52% support them and 25% are neutral. Surveys are also being conducted of residents in individual LTNs where roads have been closed. The first of these, in south London, found 56% wanted to keep the scheme, against 38% who wanted to remove it. The multi-million-pound investment marks another step towards the government’s ambition to deliver more active travel options in communities across the country and build back greener – benefitting the nation’s health and the environment. Evaluation of early School Streets projects has shown traffic outside schools has reduced on average by 68%, children cycling to school has increased by 51% and harmful vehicle pollution outside schools is down by almost three quarters.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/175-million-more-for-cycling-and-walking-as-research-shows-public-support