Active Travel England to Focus on Political Will and Technical Capability
Active Travel England (ATE) will work with the councils that have the highest levels of political will and technical capability, reports Transport Xtra.
The comments were made by the CEO of ATE Danny Williams at Cycle City Active City in July.
ATE is currently asking councils to self-assess their performance on active travel. The results will affect the distribution of £30 million of capability and ambition funding.
‘Like anyone with a big target to hit we need to work with the willing and that means sharing our faith and the majority of our funding with councils that have the highest levels of leadership, ambition and ability to deliver.
danny williams, ceo of ate
…[W]e’re going to need to focus money on areas where we can make thing happen. We’re going to focus investment on areas where there’s both the political will to get things done, as well as the technical capability to do it. That’s very much part of our thinking with this year’s capability funding.’
2030 Objective
ATE’s key objective is to ensure that 50% of trips in our towns and cities are walked, wheeled or cycled by 2030.
Planning System
ATE is to be a statutory consultee in the planning system, and Williams says that the target date for achieving that status is late 2022.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the DfT will be working with ATE to develop ATE’s planning role.
£500 Million of Grant Funding
ATE holds £500 million of grant funding for a 3 year period from 2022/23. Councils will be invited to bid for it starting in September 2022, and again leadership and technical capability will be key.
Williams points out that the sums involved are modest – equivalent to 5 miles of the M74 – but will come under scrutiny. The spending should enable people to consider active travel as a normal part of everyday life, and help them address the cost of living and reduce their carbon outputs.
He says ATE must cater not just for linear trips, but multi-point trips of the kind families need to make.
Communication between ATE and local authorities is important too, according to Williams.