{"id":730981,"date":"2026-06-12T03:11:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T03:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/730981\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T03:11:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T03:11:12","slug":"cycling-and-walking-boom-with-4-5-billion-for-thousands-of-new-routes-and-safer-crossings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/730981\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycling and walking boom with \u00a34.5 billion for thousands of new routes and safer crossings"},"content":{"rendered":"

more than half (55%)\u00a0of short journeys in towns and cities to be walked or\u00a0cycled by 2035 under ambitious new targets\u00a0
\n a record\u00a0\u00a34.5 billion\u00a0is projected\u00a0to be invested\u00a0over next 5 years for thousands of new routes and safer crossings connecting homes with schools, high\u00a0streets\u00a0and local services\u00a0
\n new routes will save households money, improve public health, cut carbon emissions, reduce congestion and boost local economies<\/p>\n

More than half of short journeys in towns and cities will be walked,\u00a0wheeled\u00a0or cycled by 2035 under new national\u00a0targets\u00a0announced by the Department for Transport today (12\u00a0June 2026).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The new cycling and walking investment strategy<\/a> sets a national target\u00a0for people to hit the pavement or pedals for 55%\u00a0of short\u00a0trips\u00a0in towns\u00a0and\u00a0for 60% of children aged 5 to 16 to travel actively to school by the same year.\u00a0
\u00a0
The government is projected to invest over \u00a34.5 billion in active travel over the next 5\u00a0years, and will work with Active Travel England and local authorities to deliver:<\/p>\n

5,000 new walking,\u00a0wheeling\u00a0and cycling routes
\n 10,000 safer crossings, connecting homes with schools, high\u00a0streets\u00a0and local services by 2030<\/p>\n

This will also encourage people to walk or bike to public transport hubs, such as train stations, making them more achievable and in line with the way people travel every day.<\/p>\n

Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Too many people would like to walk, wheel or cycle more often but don\u2019t feel they have safe and convenient options to do so.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our new\u00a0cycling and walking investment strategy sets out how we will change that, with ambitious targets, record levels of investment and a clear plan to make active travel a practical choice for millions more journeys.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is about creating healthier communities, helping households keep more money in their pockets and building a transport network that works better for everyone.<\/p>\n

Secretary of State for Health, James Murray, said:<\/p>\n

The benefits of walking and cycling for our physical health, mental wellbeing and our communities are clear, and even small increases in physical activity can make a big difference. This investment will help more people build exercise into their everyday lives, improving public health and supporting our ambition to reduce pressure on the NHS.<\/p>\n

The cycling and walking investment strategy demonstrates how we\u2019re\u00a0working across government to deliver for our communities and reduce health inequalities, while helping fulfil our commitments as set out in the 10 Year Health Plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Published alongside Active Travel England\u2019s\u00a0Worth Every Step\u00a0delivery plan<\/a>, the strategy sets out how investment in active travel can\u00a0save\u00a0households money, improve public health, cut congestion, reduce carbon\u00a0emissions\u00a0and support local\u00a0economies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

By getting more people adopting healthier lifestyles, it would\u00a0free up around 1.7\u00a0million GP appointments every year\u00a0and lead to 4.4 million fewer sick days.<\/p>\n

If households give up a second car in favour of active short trips, it could save families around \u00a31,700 per year on average \u2013 that\u2019s more than \u00a317,000 over 10 years.<\/p>\n

National Active Travel Commissioner, Chris Boardman said:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every journey\u00a0made\u202fon\u202ffoot,\u202fwheeling\u202for\u202fcycling, delivers\u202fvalue – to the person making it, to the community around them and to the economy.\u202fIt keeps money in our pockets, makes us healthier and\u202fhappier and boosts our local economy.\u202f\u202f\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet too many of our streets do not yet make those journeys feel safe,\u202feasy or inviting.\u202fOur\u00a0Worth Every Step\u00a0delivery plan will change that. And it starts with where we\u2019ll get the biggest\u202fimpact: a\u202fmore active school run and simple zebra crossings to transform local trips.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to make the cheapest and healthiest way to travel, the easiest way to travel. When streets work for people, everything else follows.<\/p>\n

The strategy marks a new cross-government approach to active travel, bringing together transport, health and\u00a0investment\u00a0while\u00a0giving local leaders a greater role in shaping delivery to meet the needs of their communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This forms part of the government\u2019s new Pride in Place programme<\/a>, empowering communities to take greater control over the renewal of their neighbourhoods, including the introduction of 13 new bathing sites in England.<\/p>\n

It also includes plans to develop a coherent transport network designed to make active travel a realistic\u00a0option\u00a0for more journeys across\u00a0England.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chris\u00a0Whitty, Chief Medical Officer:<\/p>\n

Increasing physical activity plays a key role in improving health. The greatest health gain from physical activity comes from those who do none starting to do some, and those who do some increasing their level of activity.\u00a0Walking, wheeling and cycling are great ways to incorporate physical activity to everyday life, across the life course – to encourage this we must make routes practical, safe and equitable. Active Travel England\u2019s work is important in delivering this, and it is encouraging to see this set out in Worth Every Step.<\/p>\n

Helen Godwin, Mayor of the West of England, said:<\/p>\n

I am delighted to support the launch of Worth Every Step and the cycling and walking investment strategy. We are working to double the number of School Streets in the West, so I am particularly pleased to see the national focus on greener travel to school.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0West of England is proud\u00a0to now be a top-rated regional authority for active travel. Tens of millions of pounds of regional investment will mean almost 100 miles of new and improved routes, empowering more people to be able to walk, wheel, and cycle – which is better for our health and for our planet.<\/p>\n

Active travel is an important part of getting the West moving. Working together, we can connect our schools and homes with jobs and transport hubs while we roll out better buses and more trains and develop our mass transit plans.<\/p>\n

Dame Sarah\u00a0Storey, Active Travel Commissioner for Greater Manchester said:<\/p>\n

This is\u00a0a strong national commitment to invest in making walking and cycling safe, accessible and a realistic choice for everyday journeys,\u00a0and I welcome the particular focus on ensuring safe journeys to school.<\/p>\n

Across Greater Manchester, the focus is on enabling people to have more choice in how they travel \u2013 making sure all active modes work as part of a joined-up Bee Network. This integrated approach is already making a difference, with around a third of all journeys made actively and 90% of people walking as part of their public transport journeys.<\/p>\n

Across the region, connected public transport and active travel journeys are now more cost effective and convenient than they\u2019ve ever been and alongside work being done to reduce road danger, Greater Manchester\u2019s ten local authorities and Transport for Greater Manchester are\u00a0enabling safer streets, including School Streets which help more children and families travel actively to and from school.<\/p>\n

With this continued investment, I know even more can be done to help more people choose walking, wheeling and cycling every day.<\/p>\n

Catherine Woodhead, Chief Executive, Living Streets said: \u00a0<\/p>\n

This third strategy is bigger and braver than we\u2019ve seen before. As the charity behind the country\u2019s first-ever zebra crossings, we\u2019re delighted there will be 10,000 more on our streets. Side road zebras and the commitment to deliver 5,000 safer routes to school will make healthier travel choices for families much easier.<\/p>\n

South Yorkshire\u2019s Mayor Oliver Coppard, said:<\/p>\n

My ambition is for South Yorkshire to be the healthiest region in the country – that has to start in our neighbourhoods and around our schools. That\u2019s why I made a commitment to make South Yorkshire the best place in the country for children to walk, wheel and cycle, starting with safer journeys to school.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re already delivering on that ambition, working with more than 170 primary schools this year alone through my Mayor\u2019s Walk and Wheel Challenge. We\u2019ll work with hundreds more in the years ahead to help build lifelong healthy habits.<\/p>\n

I welcome the ambition set out in the government\u2019s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy because it focuses us on something fundamental: quite simply, every parent should feel confident their child can get to school safely. And in South Yorkshire we\u2019re getting on with making that vision a reality through investing tens of millions in safer crossings, safer routes to schools, school streets and trialling innovative simple zebra crossings.<\/p>\n

Working with other Mayors and Active Travel England, we\u2019re showing how devolution can deliver \u2013 creating safer neighbourhoods, healthier journeys, and better connections to jobs, opportunity and each other, so everyone in South Yorkshire can stay near and go far.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"more than half (55%)\u00a0of short journeys in towns and cities to be walked or\u00a0cycled by 2035 under ambitious…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-730981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}