UK makes additional $336 million investment in bicycling; total of $923 million

28 November 2014

UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced a package of measures totalling £214 million (US$336 million) to expand the use of bicycling in the UK. This will bring the total invested in cycling by the government to £588 million ($923 million).The investment will include:

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• £114 million ($179 million) to secure funding to support the Cycling Ambition Cities Program for the next 3 years (Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich and Oxford) accelerate their development of local cycling networks, increase protection for cyclists at junctions and traffic hot spots and help prevent accidents.

• £100 million ($157 million) investment over the next years to improve the conditions for cyclists and walkers travelling alongside and crossing Britain’s most important and busiest roads—the Strategic Road Network.

I want to bring cycling down from the Alps and onto British streets. The inspiration and legacy of the 2012 Olympics and the Tour de France starting in Yorkshire this year has started a revolution in cycling for everyone, not just in velodromes, not necessarily in lycra, but for going to school or to work or to the shops. I’m committed to helping our dream of becoming a cycling nation, similar to places like Denmark and the Netherlands, become a reality.

On top of this investment, The Deputy Prime Minister also launched two new initiatives to help inspire a new generation of cyclists:

• a new scheme from Halfords, which will recondition and donate bikes and helmets to primary school children in disadvantaged areas of the 8 current cycling cities; and

• a new pilot scheme to enhance the Bikeability cycle training programme to provide extra training to schools and parents, each designed to address a specific barrier to cycling.

Among its other businesses, Halfords is the UK’s top bicycle retailer, selling around one million cycles a year.