The UK government has just announced multi-year funding for active travel in England outside London, worth £626m. Active Travel England, the agency responsible for allocation of active travel funds in England, says this is enough for 500 miles of new cycling and walking routes.
Active Travel England is headed by national active travel commissioner, Chris Boardman, who states: “The aim of Active Travel England is to give people more everyday choice in how they get around, by creating safe, accessible and welcoming streets.
“We are not just building infrastructure – together, we are creating communities: places where parents feel confident letting children travel independently, and where older people can reach local shops with ease. We are building life back into our streets."
Piecemeal approach
But, as reported by The Guardian on 7 December, 50 organisations involved in transport and public health, including British Cycling and Cycling UK, have recently written to Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, calling for specific targets to be set for active travel, claiming that proposals must "move from good intentions to a clear, long-term, fully deliverable national plan comparable to other strategic transport programmes".
The letter highlights a frequent short-term and piecemeal approach to active travel and calls for a national strategy and joined-up routes to key destinations such as hospitals, schools and railway stations.
In November 2023, the Public Accounts Committee, which oversees government spending, reported disappointingly slow progress and that the government was not on track to meet its targets for active travel.
It further stated that the impact of the £2.3bn spent between 2016 and 2021, including £2bn of emergency funding during the Covid epidemic, was unclear and that a £233m reduction in funding for active travel made by the Treasury in March 2023 could adversely affect achievement of active-travel targets. The report cited, in particular, the lack of certainty for councils on available funding, late notice of allocations and its short-term availability.
Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Treasury’s March 2023 cut was unlawful, underlining the government’s short-termism in active travel funding.
Active travel rankings
Alongside the funding announcement, Active Travel England has published ‘active travel capability’ ratings for 2025, which show nine councils improving their ranking.
Councils are graded from 0 to 4. A 0 rating denotes no plan, while 4 shows:
"Established culture of active travel with successive increases in walking, wheeling and cycling, underpinned by a dense integrated network in place and highly supportive policies to give more people the choice to walk, wheel or cycle."
Only 11 out of 80 local authorities are graded 3, denoting "very strong local leadership and organisational capability, comprehensive plans, and a significant network in place with a growing number of people choosing to walk, wheel and cycle".
None has achieved level 4, although since 2023 no local authority has been graded 0 either.
You can read the full rankings and see how your council performs here.
