Source: Bristol City Council, ATE Image source: Amy W, Unsplash

Active Travel England (ATE), the UK’s government agency focused on creating people-friendly streets and high-quality transport infrastructure, launched its new cycling and walking investment strategy (CWIS3) in Bristol. The strategy aims to deliver 5,000 new walking, wheeling and cycling routes and 10,000 safer crossings across England by 2030.

ATE emphasises that the £4.5 billion strategy aims to make active travel choices an everyday reality, stating, “We will work across government to integrate active travel into health, planning, physical activity and cost of living policies.”

The importance of integrating active travel with other transport modes is recognised, with the strategy moving towards a target for trip stages: “Many walking, wheeling and cycling trips are complete journeys, but many more are to or from a bus or tram stop, or a metro or train station. It’s important that we capture these trip stages to truly understand the extent of active travel in our communities.”

The building of safe, coherent networks around schools is a priority, as is the creation of “a proper national active travel network – with every safe route mapped and accessible on route planning apps and consistent signage and road markings across the country.”

During the launch, Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander MP, Mayor for the West of England, Helen Godwin, national Active Travel Commissioner, Chris Boardman, and Bristol Deputy Leader Councillor, Heather Mack, took to the city’s shared bikes to see recent improvements to the Bristol-to-Bath Railway Path, which became the country’s first cycle path in 1985. Bristol City Council highlighted that it is investing in safer walking and cycling routes, including a School Streets Programme designed to reduce traffic outside schools during drop-off and pick-up times, the roll-out of more 20 mph (32 km/h) areas, and the upgrade of pedestrian crossings.

In a video shared on ATE’s LinkedIn, Helen Godwin highlighted that sustainable-travel-conscious Bristol demonstrates the ambitions described in CWIS3, and business owners in one of the city’s pedestrianised streets spoke of the positive impacts, with the owner of a barber shop mentioning increased income, as well as the difference of a pedestrianised street to one with cars as “chalk and cheese…it’s a healthier street, the air feels a lot better, and it’s a safe street.”