Ministers are launching a major push to increase the number of children walking and cycling to school as part of a broader boost for active travel, according to transport secretary Heidi Alexander.
In the first significant change to active travel policy since the Boris Johnson era, thousands of new safe routes and crossings will be built around schools in England. The goal is to have at least 60% of all children walk, cycle, or wheel to school by 2035.
The new cycling and walking investment strategy, formally unveiled on Friday, also includes a target for at least 55% of shorter urban trips to involve some form of active travel by 2035. The inclusion of specific targets follows criticism from campaigners after an initial draft of the plan lacked any.
With a promised total active travel spend of £4.5 billion over five years, the schools plan aims to create 5,000 new routes and 10,000 crossings by 2030.
However, the target will be difficult to achieve, particularly for schools. Currently, about 45% of students use active travel. Previous targets focused on primary-aged children, who tend to live closer, whereas this covers all pupils from ages five to 16.
Alexander said she was determined to maintain a focus on everyday travel needs, given the distractions of major infrastructure projects such as HS2 and Great British Railways.
“There is a world in which you only talk about planes, trains, and automobiles, and I’ve been very clear that I didn’t want that to happen,” she said.
The last active travel strategy began under Boris Johnson, a keen supporter of active travel. In contrast, Rishi Sunak’s government pushed back, launching a “plan for drivers” that sought to prevent councils from making streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
Alexander made it clear there would be “no war on motorists”.
“Most people in this country drive,” she said. “They walk, they cycle, they might use public transport, they might jump on a bus, they might use a train, and so trying to divide people into different categories is a complete waste of time.”
The target for 55% of urban trips existed in the Johnson-era strategy but has been changed to cover “stages”. This means that even if someone combines active travel with another mode, such as cycling to the station to catch a train, it counts.
Alexander said the idea was to convey that any active travel at all was not only cheaper but also beneficial for health. She pointed to the advice of Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, that “the most important thing that we could do from a public health perspective is get the people who do absolutely nothing at the moment to do something”.
Alexander said she was personally invested in the strategy: “It’s something I think about quite a lot myself, in terms of this job being absolutely insane, in terms of the number of hours I have to work, and how do I build in a little bit of physical activity into my life.
“I’m an overweight 51-year-old woman, and what we’re doing through this cycling and walking investment strategy is about how we get, frankly, people like me to be a little bit more active.”
A focus on formal sport or exercise schemes such as the popular “couch to 5k” running programme failed to reach enough people, she argued: “I tried couch to 5k, and found it really difficult. But ask me to leave my car at home and cycle five or 10 minutes to the supermarket when I want to pick up some milk and a loaf of bread, that’s something that I could easily do.”
