TfL doubles funding for cycling & walking programmes

Transport for London (TfL) has today announced that applications are open for more than £500,000 of grants for community and not-for-profit groups that encourage people to walk and cycle.

Previously known as Cycling Grants London, this year the programme has been expanded to include walking projects for the first time, with the number of grants available also doubling from 30 to 60.

TfL hopes to award funding to at least one project in every London borough. Each community project can apply for funding of up to £10,000 over three years through the programme, which is delivered by Groundwork London.

Current and previous initiatives include cycle training, guided rides and courses teaching basic cycle maintenance.

Will Norman, London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, said of the announcement: “I’m delighted that walking projects can now also benefit from our expanded grants, and I’m proud that we’ve doubled the funding available.

“By showing Londoners that walking and cycling are convenient, easy and fun ways to get around, we can improve their health and quality of life, as well as reducing toxic air pollution – improving our city for everyone.”

As part of the Mayor’s Transport Strategy, Sadiq Khan has set a target to increase the proportion of people walking, cycling and taking public transport to 80% of journeys by 2041, compared to 64% now.

TfL’s Cycling Grants London programme has helped 120 projects encourage more than 16,000 people to cycle, helping to contribute to the biggest increase in the amount of cycling in London since record began, according to the organisation.

A daily average of four million kilometres were cycled in 2018, which is 4% higher than in the previous year. The number of people killed on London’s roads fell to its lowest level on record last year, to 111 fatalities, with 12 of those people dying while cycling.

Ellenie Ariotti, Bike It Plus Office for Sustrans, added: “Through our TfL funding we have been able to offer young people who are struggling in the classroom an alternative – the chance to learn from a trained mechanic and to fix their own bike. Learning practical skills and seeing the improvement to their own bike gives these young people confidence in their ability to learn and improve. They’re also much more likely to cycle on a bike they are proud to have fixed.

“This project has been an investment in the tangible requirements of a cycling project, but it has also been an investment in young people and the future of cycling in London.”