Skip to main content

UK investment to make it easier and safer to get on your bike

UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced the UK Government’s biggest single investment in cycling, which includes US$179 million to secure funding to support the Cycling Ambition Cities Programme for the next three years in Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Oxford accelerate their development of local cycling networks, increase protection for cyclists at junctions and traffic hot spots and help prevent accidents. US$157 million will also be invested over t
November 28, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced the UK Government’s biggest single investment in cycling, which includes US$179 million to secure funding to support the Cycling Ambition Cities Programme for the next three years in Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Oxford accelerate their development of local cycling networks, increase protection for cyclists at junctions and traffic hot spots and help prevent accidents.

US$157 million will also be invested over the next years to improve the conditions for cyclists and walkers travelling alongside and crossing Britain’s most important and busiest roads, or the Strategic Road Network.

This brings the total invested in cycling by the government to US$924 million.

Recent research commissioned by British Cycling found that if the UK became a cycling nation like the Netherlands or Denmark it could: save the NHS £17 billion within 20 years; reduce road deaths by three per cent; increase mobility of the nation’s poorest families by 25 per cent; and increase retail sales by a quarter.

The Deputy Prime Minister will also launch two new initiatives to help inspire a new generation of cyclists: a new scheme from Halfords, which will recondition and donate bikes and helmets to primary school children in disadvantaged areas of the 8 current cycling cities; and a new pilot scheme to enhance the Bikeability cycle training programme to provide extra training to schools and parents, each designed to address a specific barrier to cycling.

Related Content

  • December 22, 2015
    Government unveils new measures to further improve road safety
    The UK Department for Transport (DfT) has unveiled a raft of measures to improve the safety of Britain’s roads, including US$3 million for research into driver education, including the possibility of giving learner drivers motorway experience with an instructor before taking their test.
  • April 19, 2012
    Blind spot detection should be mandatory by 2015, say engineers
    Collision-avoidance technologies which could help eliminate cyclist and pedestrian deaths caused by driver ‘blind-spots’ should be made mandatory for all UK buses and lorries by 2015, according to a new report published by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. The ‘Intelligent Transport Intelligent Society’ report also calls for eCall to be integrated into all new road vehicles within the next two years. “The alarming rise in cyclist deaths on British roads needs to be addressed urgently,” says Philippa
  • October 29, 2015
    Speed up pace of infrastructure action, say two thirds of businesses
    The majority of businesses (62 per cent) are concerned with the pace of progress on the delivery of infrastructure projects, and over half (53 per cent) believe they won’t see necessary upgrades in the next five years, according to the 2015 CBI/AECOM Infrastructure Survey. With 94 per cent of the 722 firms surveyed saying the quality of infrastructure is a key deciding factor in planning their investments, CBI/AECOM believe there is clear consensus on the need to speed up the delivery of projects crucia
  • December 16, 2014
    Growing passenger numbers, fare rises for UK rail
    According to Rail Travel, a new market report from business intelligence provider Key Note, in 2013/2014 the total value of passenger receipts for UK rail travel increased by 6.2 per cent year-on-year, and grew by 32.5 per cent over a five-year period. In addition, passenger journeys grew by 23.5 per cent over the five-year review period, with passenger kilometres travelled also growing by 17.9 per cent over the same timeframe. For the purpose of this report, the rail industry in the UK has been split in