Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the uptake of cycling and walking.

On 28 July 2020 the Prime Minister launched ambitious plans to boost cycling and walking, with the ambition that half of all journeys in towns and cities are cycled or walked by 2030. This includes a £2 billion package of funding for active travel over 5 years, the largest ever boost for cycling and walking.

The first £250 million of the £2 billion was allocated in 2020/21, with much of this going to local authorities enabling them quickly to deliver safe walking and cycling routes in their area. The Department’s latest Road Traffic Estimates for Great Britain suggest that the amount of cycling was 46% higher in 2020 than in 2019, with around 5 billion miles cycled. This is the highest level of cycling on the public highway since the 1960s.

The Government is providing over a quarter of a billion pounds for walking and cycling this financial year, and will be making a further announcement shortly on all it is doing to support this important agenda.