New £4 Million Active Travel Fund Launched in York and North Yorkshire

A new £4 million active travel fund has been launched to support walking, wheeling, and cycling across York and North Yorkshire.

The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority has approved the Mayor’s Active Travel Fund alongside the decision to appoint an Active Travel Commissioner for the Mayor’s term.

The fund's primary aim is to make streets safer for everyone who wishes to walk, wheel, and cycle across the region.

Mayor David Skaith highlighted the multifaceted benefits of active travel,

"We've launched our 4 million pound active travel fund to support walking wheel and cycling right across York and North Yorkshire, including those rural and coastal towns.

Active travel is so important for people's physical and mental wellbeing, but also it's the most affordable, environmentally friendly to move around our region.

So everyone should feel safe doing so, and I cannot wait to see some of the projects that come out from this fund."

The Mayor expressed a vision for a region where children and young people grow up with walking, wheeling, and cycling becoming "second nature".

"Really at the heart of this fund, it's about supporting the ecosystem and making walk-in wheel and cycling safer for our streets and safer for everyone who wants to walk, wheel and cycle across the region.

Ultimately I want to make sure that our children, our young people particularly are safe right across York and North Yorkshire, and grow up in a region where walking within cycling can just become second nature and it's very much a part of how we choose to move around the region."

The new funding is intended to support a wide range of initiatives designed to foster safer streets and encourage greater active travel participation across York and North Yorkshire. Potential projects include new facilities such as secure cycle parking, the repair or updating of existing facilities, travel behaviour change initiatives like School Streets programmes, and training or community bike schemes.

Mayor Skaith stated,

"We’re open to ideas that work for all our communities, and this significant £4 million fund can support everything from secure cycle parking to school streets programmes and more".

He particularly emphasized the fund's potential to enable schemes that promote active travel in "rural villages and market towns, as well as in urban areas," acknowledging the region's diverse geography.

Chris Boardman, National Active Travel Commissioner, underscored the broader impact, asserting that

"Enabling more people to walk wheel or cycle to where they need to be – whether that’s in cities, towns or villages – is one of the best interventions we can make to improve the nation’s health, environment and economy, all in one".

He commended the funding, noting that the combined authority is best positioned to

"develop schemes that give communities travel choices that are safe, accessible and attractive to all, which will mean happier, healthier and greener journeys across the region".

The fund will be overseen by a newly appointed Active Travel Commissioner, whose role is to provide direction and expertise to help deliver the Mayor’s vision of a comprehensive network of lit, well-maintained walking, cycling, and wheeling routes across York and North Yorkshire.

Groups across York and North Yorkshire will be eligible to bid for a share of this new fund. It will be open to town and parish councils, community organisations, businesses, charities, North Yorkshire Council, and City of York Council. Applications for the fund are expected to open later this year.

This £4 million investment doubles the funding available for new initiatives and represents the latest scheme to launch under the £27 million Mayoral Challenge Fund, which encompasses various programmes aimed at regional development, environmental improvements, and skills enhancement. The new fund also follows the recent approval of an additional £20 million towards transport schemes in the region, with a focus on active travel.