The National Audit Office (NAO) published new report this week – Active travel in England and examines whether DfT is set up to achieve its ambitions for increased walking, wheeling and cycling in England by 2025.
Active travel comprises trips that are made by foot or cycling, for example bicycles e-cycles and mobility scooters. Active travel is a low-carbon way to get around and offers many benefits compared with other forms of transport.
Richard Fuller MP said:
This week's report from the NAO on the government’s progress on active travel makes for mixed reading, but the core strategy is deemed right with long term benefits for wellbeing and the environment.
Earlier this year, Active Travel England published its review of local authority capabilities on active travel giving both Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire Councils low ratings. I think we can do better locally.
From 1st June, Active Travel England has become a statutory consultee on all planning applications for more than 150 houses ensuring that local councils can draw on their expertise to provide greener, better forms of transport infrastructure.
The government believes active travel has potential to support its wider strategic priorities to increase physical activity, tackle obesity, improve air quality, level up, and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and alongside a broad objective to deliver a world-class cycling and walking network in England by 2040, DfT has set four specific objectives for active travel, which are to:
- increase the percentage of short journeys in towns and cities that are walked or
- cycled from 41% in 2018-19 to 46% in 2025, 50% in 2030 and 55% in 2035;1
- increase walking activity to 365 stages per person per year in 2025;2
- double cycling from 0.8 billion stages in 2013 to 1.6 billion stages in 2025; and
- increase the percentage of children aged 5 to 10 who usually walk to school
- from 49% in 2014 to 55% in 2025
To read the report, please click here.
