Calls for active travel to be protected as it generates £36.5bn for UK

A group of organisations are urging the government to protect funding for active travel, as a new report shows walking, wheeling and cycling generated £36.5 billion for the economy in 2021.

Representing active travel, motoring, road safety and business leaders, the group are concerned a £4 billion pot earmarked for active travel may be disregarded when the government comes to balance the budget on October 31.

According to the report by active travel charity Sustrans, people on low incomes also want greater investment in these areas, with 58% and 50% calling for more investment in walking and cycling respectively.

The group of organisations have now written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP, to emphasise how walking, wheeling and cycling add to rural and urban economic growth.

Xavier Brice, CEO of Sustrans, said: ‘It’s clear that active forms of travel, such as walking and cycling, bring in billions of pounds of economic benefit. Plus, as people are hit by the cost of living crisis, affordable ways of getting around are critical. People must have the opportunity to make the active travel choice instead of expensive car use, to boost people’s spending power for the benefit of the economy and our hopes of growth.’

Sustrans’ Walking and Cycling Index revealed that in 2021 walking, wheeling and cycling created £6.5 billion in economic benefits across the 17 urban areas surveyed. This equates to an overall annual benefit of £36.5 billion when these trends are applied to the whole of the UK.

People who walk to the high street, rather than drive, are also more likely to buy things, spending 40% more than drivers. Active travellers are less likely to be ill too, taking 27% fewer sick days than their colleagues.

Organisations which signed the letter to the Minister for Transport included members of the Walking and Cycling Alliance, as well as the AA; CPRE, the countryside charity; Brake; the Road Safety Foundation; the Urban Transport Group; and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Edmund King OBE, AA president: ‘Every driver is a pedestrian and most cyclists are drivers, therefore it is in everyone’s interest to level up walking and cycling infrastructure. By creating new routes, as well as investing in existing paths and footways, we can create a safer, greener transport network that benefits all road users.

‘Maintaining the £4bn budget for these projects will also help drivers save money on fuel or electricity. When we ask AA members what mobility modes they would consider to replace one or more car journeys per week, the top answer was bicycle (47%), followed by e-bikes (41%).’

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