Rhiannon Letman-Wade Appointed Active Travel Commissioner

Rhiannon Letman-Wade has been appointed as York & North Yorkshire’s Active Travel Commissioner.

Her role is ‘to accelerate improvements to make the region a place where people feel safer and more confident to walk, wheel and cycle’.

She will help implement Mayor David Skaith’s vision of a comprehensive network of lit, well-maintained routes in the region.

She will oversee the Mayor’s £4 million Active Travel Fund.

Mayor David Skaith said:

‘Rhiannon has a strong track record of delivering exciting travel schemes and a commitment to empowering communities to make the change they want to see in their neighbourhoods.

She brings a wealth of experience and will be at the forefront of helping York and North Yorkshire move forward’.

Experience

Rhiannon Letman-Wade is Deputy Chair of Wales’s Active Travel Board. In that role she has helped shape national policy, and led a number of successful initiatives to make school journeys safer.

She has also helped local authorities to improve their active travel ratings.

Ms Letman-Wade said:

‘I’m speaking with stakeholders and community groups to build a picture of where we are now and what we need to do next.

Changing how people think about active travel is part of the challenge.

It’s not simply about replacing car journeys, it’s about seeing how it can support other ways of travelling – such as making it easier to walk to a bus stop or cycle to a station’.

She says that safer school journeys are a priority. She is keen to hear from communities and groups.