Six English cities to share £6.5 million government cash for cycling

Six cities across England are to share £7 million cash provided by the Department for Transport (DfT) for projects aimed at improving the safety of cyclists.

The funding, announced today by transport minister Jesse Norman, will be shared between Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester and Norwich.

They had applied for funding under the government programme Cycle Ambition Cities – formerly, Cycle City Ambition – programme in response to an invitation to submit bids earlier this year.

Details of the winning projects appear in the video above, and are also listed below.

Source: DfT

Norman, whose responsibilities include cycling, said: “I want us to become a nation of cyclists, and to make cycling a natural choice for people of all ages and backgrounds.

“While Britain has some of the safest roads in the world, we want to encourage still more people to take up cycling.

“We are determined to make cycling safer and easier across the country. This funding, as part of our overall cycling and walking strategy, will help local councils to make their roads safer for everyone.”

The funding provided by the DfT will be topped up with further amounts from the local authorities involved and potentially other sources.

It forms part of the £1.2 billion funding over five years announced in April 2017 as the government published its long-awaited Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, which was broadly welcomed by campaigners.

That equates to roughly £4.5 per person per year, less than half of the £10 minimum sought by the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group’s Get Britain Cycling report published in 2013, although local contributions will boost the figure.