All-Party parliamentary group for cycling and walking launches inquiry to identify participation barriers
The All-party parliamentary group for cycling and walking (APPGW) will launch an inquiry into excluding barriers for active travel in the UK. British Cycling and Leigh Day are both supporting the inquiry that aims to identify barriers to accessing cycling, walking, and wheeling.
By understanding the infrastructure, public policy, and social factors the parliamentary group hopes to take down these barriers in the future. The evidence gathered will shape future policy recommendations in an active effort to make cycling and walking more accessible.
Active travel has well-documented benefits for individuals health, the environment, and community wellbeing. However, not all have access to these benefits. Inaccessible footways or unsuitable cycling infrastructure along with financial obstacles and social perceptions can prevent groups engaging in active travel.
The inquiry will look to gather information on; groups currently excluded from active travel and the reasons, poverty, disability, and infrastructure impact, successful initiatives, actions, policies or resources that could help.
Written evidence and in-person evidence sessions will be provided in Parliament on December the 9th. The APPGCW invites written evidence from individuals and organisations with insight into these topics. Between five to eight members will sit on the advisory board, representing the range of work currently being done in the UK. The members main role will be to provide recommendations on the investigations findings.
Fabian Hamilton MP, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Party Group for Cycling and Walking (APPGCW) said: “The many individual and societal benefits of active travel are both well documented and researched. From public health to air pollution, many of the challenges that we face today could be tackled in part by seeing an increase in the number of people cycling, walking and wheeling.”
“Sadly, there remain many barriers in place to ensuring that people from all backgrounds have equitable access to these methods of transport. This inquiry will look at why that is, and provide insight on how we can begin to remove some of those barriers. I look forward to working with a diverse and wide group of contributors to deliver this important inquiry.”
