MPs issue statement as Active Travel funding is cut

This week has witnessed a new low for UK micromobility and active travel campaigners, one which, deeply ironically, was announced on the same day – Thursday March 9th – as the “European Commission Executive-Vice President Frans Timmermans, announced the EU institutions will complete an ambitious cycling plan this year, including commitments to increase funding for infrastructure and industrial growth.” This followed the European Parliaments February call on the Commission and Member States to take actions to double cycling in the EU.

In stark contrast, UK government announced, “a devastating £200m cut to the active travel budget in England.” As Sustrans reports, “This sets us on the completely wrong path for society, the economy and the environment. And it sees the government backtrack on its previous pledges for active travel investment.”

Other sources have the budget cut closer to £380 million.

Making a statement directly addressing the announced gutting of Active Travel funding, Selaine Saxby MP and Ruth Cadbury MP comment:

“It is incredibly disappointing that the active travel budget has seen such extensive cuts at a time where we need to really make progress on decarbonisation and when people need cheap transport choices.

We’ve witnessed the popularity of active travel increase in the capital but other parts of England will now not benefit from the same quality transport system. London now has three times as much funding per year for active travel than the rest of England combined.

We understand that there are pressures on the public purse but active travel schemes frequently have much higher benefit:cost ratios than road building schemes, many of which are still going ahead despite falling value for money for taxpayers. No other mode of transport will deliver the same health benefits and actually save the NHS money. If we’re serious about decarbonisation and giving people real choices on how they move, active travel needs to be properly and consistently funded.”

What now?

For many this will, regrettably, come as no surprise, yet no less a shock. In September of 2022 Chris Boardman stating that Active Travel England was (is) some £15+ billion underfund, based on the bodies stated aims.

This week also saw the government rule out road user charging with the ‘Chancellor of the Exchequer respond(ing) to the Transport Select Committee on Road User Charging with a 1 page letter concluding “the government does not currently have plans to consider road pricing”. It took 13 months for this reply to be provided compared to the expected 2 months.’

All this whilst RAC Foundation Director, Steve Gooding, highlighted that ‘Based on current trends, getting the car fleet up to 35% pure battery electric by 2030 – without reducing driven miles – looks like a monumentally steep challenge, like climbing Everest on a bad day’.

Draw what conclusions you will, but one thing is abundantly clear; UK government has once again show itself to be incapable of leadership in the face of increasingly interconnected challenges, and roundly embarrassed by the performance of EU neighbours acting as a collective body, working to remodel transport for a fast approaching, climate challenged, future.