Pushing cycling after Covid-19

Transport bosses are celebrating success as cycling in Greater Manchester is given a £20 million boost as part of a national bid to get more people on bikes

Councils are committing millions to make commutes more cycle-friendly as people go back to work.

As lockdown eases, people who can’t work from home are being encouraged to begin commuting again, but ideally not by public transport.

That leaves cycling or walking as a preferred option for those who can’t travel by car, but 61% of people feel that cycling on the road is too dangerous.

The government has released a £250m ‘emergency active travel fund’ aimed at helping towns prevent their buses, roads and public spaces becoming crowded as lockdown is lifted and issued guidance to councils.

New cycle lanes, wider pavements and low traffic zones in residential areas are among the emergency measures already underway: local plans include a new cycle lane for Castleton (first announced in 2018) with the council also developing plans for new walking and cycling routes.

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/124730/council-making-a-bee-line-for-castleton

Research by the BBC Shared Data Unit shows that the Rochdale local authority area has one of the lowest rates for people walking or cycling in the whole country.

Councillor Neil Emmott, cabinet member for environment at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “We’ve been monitoring our highways network very closely and currently have good capacity for people who wish to cycle and walk.

“We also have some excellent cycling schemes in planning, such as the £1.2m cycle lane proposed for Castleton, which we will be consulting the public on later this year.

“We’re planning ahead for the time when our town centres and other areas start to reopen and are working with TfGM and other partners on a number of different plans for new walking and cycling routes which we will be developing in the coming months.”

Councillor Emmott continued: “Active travel through cycling and walking is an excellent way to improve activity levels. It is great that levels of cycling and walking have increased over the last couple of months and that residents have discovered alternative, more environmentally friendly ways to travel.

A spokesperson for Cycling UK said now was a “golden opportunity” to encourage people into cycling, and infrastructure changes would be key in changing perceptions of how safe it was to cycle.

The group has encouraged residents to write to their local council asking for improvements to cycle infrastructure, and some 6,000 people have already done so.