£18 billion required to deliver cycling masterplan, says Boardman – Cycling Industry
Chris Boardman says England would need up to £18bn to grow cycling equitably between rural and urban areas, against a current pot of up to £3.8bn.
Active Travel England (ATE), of which Boardman is head, is tasked with meeting the target that half of all journeys in towns and cities are made by cycling and walking by 2030, and Boardman acknowledges to meet that target with the current budget they need to focus on high-yield urban routes.
While Boardman stresses his role is not as an advocate, he told a Transport Committee this morning while ATE will deliver some rural routes, he’d love to see a “more equitable approach”.
He said targeted increases in active travel to meet the 50% target would cost £9bn, while doing so equally across rural and urban areas would cost double that, adding “this is what it takes to deliver the product. And then it’s a political decision of how important you think it is”.
