\u201cWe are not just building infrastructure \u2013 together, we are creating communities: places where parents feel confident letting children travel independently, and where older people can reach local shops with ease. We are building life back into our streets.”<\/p>\n
Piecemeal approach
\n![\"Cyclist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Trek-FX-3-Disc-Equipped-14.jpg\")
The lack of consistent funding and measurable targets have been highlighted as deficiencies in the government’s approach. Steve Sayers \/ Our Media<\/p>\n
But, as reported by The Guardian<\/a> on 7 December, 50 organisations involved in transport and public health, including British Cycling and Cycling UK, have recently written to Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, calling for specific targets to be set for active travel, claiming that proposals must “move from good intentions to a clear, long-term, fully deliverable national plan comparable to other strategic transport programmes”.<\/p>\n The letter highlights a frequent short-term and piecemeal approach to active travel and calls for a national strategy and joined-up routes to key destinations such as hospitals, schools and railway stations.\u00a0<\/p>\n In November 2023, the Public Accounts Committee, which oversees government spending, reported disappointingly slow progress<\/a> and that the government was not on track to meet its targets for active travel.\u00a0<\/p>\n It further stated that the impact of the \u00a32.3bn spent between 2016 and 2021, including \u00a32bn of emergency funding<\/a> during the Covid epidemic, was unclear and that a \u00a3233m reduction in funding for active travel made by the Treasury in March 2023 could adversely affect achievement of active-travel targets. The report cited, in particular, the lack of certainty for councils on available funding, late notice of allocations and its short-term availability.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n