On the 2nd of January, the government announced a fund of £32.9 million to encourage the public to walk and cycle more. Millions of families, commuters and school children will be encouraged to take up healthy active travel this year with walking and cycling schemes across the country.

The fund is designed to capitalise on people who want to kickstart healthy resolutions and reduce their carbon footprints. Local authorities will benefit from the boost to skills training and green jobs with local schemes co-created by the communities that use them.

The active travel investment will also look to create innovative better-designed school safety zones and better infrastructure for local high streets. Upgrades will focus on tackling barriers to active travel, such as making roads safer for women, and with new cycle and wheelchair paths.

National Active Travel Commissioner, Chris Boardman, said:

“If we want to enable hundreds of thousands more people to walk, wheel and cycle for everyday trips then we need to deliver high-quality schemes that make it feel easy, fun and safe.

“Of course, ensuring the right technical skills are in place at a local level is vital but so is engagement. Survey after survey has shown strong community support for making space for active travel but it’s vital that people get strong input into helping to decide what is the right solution for their area.”

To find out more about the active travel fund, see here.