Cycling in Yorkshire
Cycling in Yorkshire
30th July 2021
If a minister from this government were in charge of a cloakroom, you'd count the buttons on your coat when you collected it just to be sure.
Today, there's a press release about a document called Summer of Cycling and Walking - but the wheeze is that the document itself isn't available, so the press covers what the DfT says is in it, not necessarily what's actually in it.
(Subsequent note: although the press release refers to a document called Summer of Cycling and Walking, I don't believe that document exists. It appears that Summer of Cycling and Walking is the name of a campaign under which several documents have been published).
The press release is headed
'£338 million package to further fuel active travel boom'.
The headline is misleading, because there isn't £338 million of new money. The truth appears further down the press release: the cycling and walking budget for 2021/22 has been increased by 30%, from £257 million to £338 million.
It remains to be seen if the government spends the amount needed to reach its much-trumpeted £2 billion investment in cycling and walking over 5 years; and the £2 billion is well below the £6 to 8 billion needed to achieve the government's own objectives on active travel.
| Year | Amount Promised Per Year | Amount Allocated |
|---|---|---|
| 2020/21 | £400 million |
£250 million |
| 2021/22 | £400 million |
£338 million |
The government says it is spending £100 million in London in addition to the £338 million in the rest of the country, and therefore the total for 2021/22 is £438 million.
The press release also mentions independent polling showing that active travel schemes are popular, and a new version of the Highway Code to be published in the autumn.
Bizarrely, Dave Brailsford pops up in the press release talking about the environment. His words are accompanied by a mention of oil, fracking and plastics company Ineos, and 4x4 Grenadier vehicles of the type that are likely to put people off cycling.
One of a slew of documents published by the DfT today is Gear Change One Year On. It reaffirms the government's commitment to the policies in Gear Change.
The Minister with responsibility for cycling, Chris Heaton-Harris, has written to councils about active travel schemes supported by government funding. He says that removing schemes prematurely is a waste of taxpayers' money.
Schemes need time to be allowed to bed in; must be tested against more normal traffic conditions; and must be in place long enough for their benefits and disbenefits to be properly evaluated and understood. We have no interest in requiring councils to keep schemes which are proven not to work, but that proof must be presented. Schemes must not be removed prematurely, or without proper evidence and too soon to collect proper evidence about their effects.
Letter from Chris Heaton-Harris to councils, 30th July 2021
If removing a scheme, there should be consultation, including professional polling.
Where schemes are removed prematurely, local authorities should expect to receive a reduced level of funding.
Mr Heaton-Harris refers to updated Network Management Duty guidance, which goes into these matters in more detail.
The government launched a consultation on changes to the Highway Code a year ago. The DfT has now published its response to the consultation.
The three main changes that the DfT consulted on were (with the percentage in favour in brackets):
The use of the Dutch reach when opening a car door was also proposed in the consultation, and supported by 80% of respondents.
There were 21,000 responses, and they have now been analysed. The majority were in favour of the changes, which will therefore be introduced. The text is now to be finalised and put before Parliament for approval.
Another document published by the DfT is A Moment of Change: Increasing Cycling Uptake. It is a research project by the Behavioural Insights Team.
They say that the most effective way to increase cycling uptake is through a mixture of 'soft' interventions such as cycle training, and 'hard' interventions like improved infrastructure. That is not a new insight.
They came up with three policy options.
This idea is for a website or app to encourage home movers to take up cycling at this moment of change in their lives.
A national campaign could be launched to coincide with workplaces re-opening, to galvanise employees to cycle to work.
This would draw on the behavioural science principles of habit formation, and would be similar to the Couch to 5K app developed by the NHS. Motivational messages could be sent to the 2.5 million people who buy bikes each year.
The DfT previously carried out polling about its active travel measures that was published in November 2020. It has now published the results of a further survey focused on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.
The new research canvases the views of residents living in areas where LTNs have been implemented. These are some of the results.
Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that government should act in local neighbourhoods to increase road safety and air quality, and reduce traffic congestion and traffic noise.
There was support for reductions in road traffic - slightly stronger for reductions in England generally than for specific reductions in respondents' local areas.
There was a similar pattern to support for reallocation of road space to walking and cycling.
Respondents strongly supported the LTNs in their local area.
Respondents agreed that their local LTN had been successful, but by a lower margin than for other questions.
These were the views on several more general questions about the LTNs.
LTNs appear to encourage more people to cycle and walk.
There was strong support for implementing LTNs more widely.
Bike Rides in Harrogate and Nidderdale is a book of family, mountain and road bike rides.
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Read more about Bike Rides in Harrogate and Nidderdale.