Government announces £175m for cycling and walking - RAC reaction

Reacting to the announcement that new money is being made available to councils in England as part of the Active Travel Fund, RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said:

“Changing our towns and cities to make them more attractive places to walk and cycle around will have many positive benefits but isn’t something that should be done without a full impact assessment on all road users. Local authorities often have a difficult balancing act between encouraging behaviour change and not negatively affecting drivers and businesses for whom vehicles are a necessity.

“Ensuring local authorities consult on changes is not only an important step for greater buy-in from the public, it also increases the chances of schemes being well-designed for the benefit of all road users and ultimately being successful in the longer term.”

The RAC Report on Motoring 2020 explored the topic of car dependency in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic - read more here.