Active Travel England (ATE) builds on the government’s commitment to level up the country and locate more Civil Service roles outside of London and the South East, as well as its commitment to boosting cycling and walking. The government is investing £5.5 million to boost air quality and improve the health and wellbeing of people. While, Olympic Gold Medallist and Cyclist Chris Boardman has been chosen as the interim Commissioner of the agency.

York-headquartered ATE will be responsible for driving up standards of cycling and walking infrastructure and managing the active travel budget, while awarding funding for projects set out in 2020. It will also help local authorities to train staff in spreading good practice in design, implementation and public engagement as well as inspect highway authorities for their performance and identify particularly dangerous failings in their highways for cyclists and pedestrians.

The £5.5 million funding includes a £300,000 top-up for e-cargo bike scheme, £3 million to improve cycling infrastructure around train stations and £2.2 million to explore active travel on prescription schemes.

The Department for Transport launched an Active Travel Social Prescribing Pilot, with local authorities awarded funding to carry out feasibility studies  trialling new walking and cycling programmes to enable increased active travel and physical activity.

Nottingham City Council has been awarded £93,000 to carry out work to help people lead more active, healthier lives by addressing barriers to walking and cycling. Nottingham was one of several places to express interest to the Department for Transport (DfT) to become a national pilot area for active travel social prescribing.

The council’s application, developed in partnership with Nottingham City Integrated Care Partnership, has made it to the final 12 selected to submit a more detailed application.

During the next few months, officers will work with partners at the Integrated Care Partnership, Clinical Commissioning Group, Primary Care Networks and community partners and stakeholders in the city to gain a better understanding of what support and services people need to make more active journeys, including looking at health data to determine the geographical areas and groups that would most benefit from the scheme.

Dr Hugh Porter, interim lead and clinical director of Nottingham City Integrated Care Partnership, said: "Nottingham City Integrated Care Partnership is delighted to be part of developing this pilot scheme, which offers real opportunities to understand how we can support our citizens and communities through active travel social prescribing.”

Transport in the United Kingdom must undergo significant changes in the coming years if net zero by 2050 is to be achieved. Decarbonising transport will require a shift to cleaner and active modes of transport and the government has set a target of 50% of all journeys in towns and cities to be made by active travel modes by 2030.

CIHT called for the government to invest in the development of sustainable and active travel, within our Comprehensive Spending Review response in 2021. CIHT have continuously highlighted the need for the government to drive the shift to sustainable and active travel through the use of fiscal incentive and long sustained funding to support local authorities to implement and maintain sustainable transport and engage with public.

Now with Active Travel England being set up, we hope to see best practice being promoted, local authorities being advised, staff and contractor training to allow local authorities to learn from each other and improve conditions for walking and cycling.

CIHT have gathered information about delivering active travel schemes including signposting to relevant guidance and research on the impacts and benefits of active travel. 

CIHT Resources

Active Travel Information and Guidance

Better Planning, Better Transport, Better Places

CIHT Connect

To join in on the conversation on the launch of Active Travel England, click here. 

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