The Department for Transport (DfT) has outlined plans to double participation in cycling by 2025.It will also explore how further funding can be generated for cycle schemes across England.The government’s vision is that cycling, alongside walking, becomes the natural choice for shorter journeys, regardless of age, gender, fitness or income, beginning with encouraging children to walk or cycle to school where possible.Funding for walking and cycling in England has steadily increased in recent years. For cycling, it is currently around £5 per person each year. However, there is still some way to go. The government wants to achieve a minimum funding equivalent to £10 per person each year by 2020-21.The new Delivery Plan is designed to help persuade more people to take to two wheels by setting out specific actions to improve leadership, funding, infrastructure, planning and safety.Transport Minister Robert Goodwill said:“This government is serious about making the UK a cycling nation. We have doubled funding since 2010, with £374 million committed between 2011 and 2015.“We want cycling and walking to become the natural choices for shorter journeys, kick starting a cycling revolution that will remove barriers for a new generation of cyclists. This strategy provides a road map for the way forward.”The delivery plan sets out the following points:
  • Will forge partnerships between the government and local authorities – in exchange for signing up to a series of actions to deliver ambitious changes in cycling and walking – they will receive access to supporting tools and incentives, including priority access to funding, knowledge sharing, and sector expertise
  • Sets out further work to ‘cycle proof’ the road network, to ensure that cyclists are considered at the design stage of new and improved road infrastructure, which in turn benefits pedestrians too
  • Highlights work to develop guidance for engineers and other professionals working on cycling infrastructure to ensure they have access to skills development and guidance on how to design best practice cycle infrastructure
  • Explains the Department’s strategy to tackle cycle safety issues with a view to both reducing the rate of those killed or seriously injured on the roads, and to address the public perception that cycling is not safe.

There will be a host of cycle safety initiatives at this year's Seeing is Believing event that is taking place on 19-20 November at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, near Lutterworth, Leicestershire.We are working together with TRL (Transport Research Laboratory), Transport for London and Sustrans to help you find out more about cycle safety and keep cycle accidents to a minimum. Here are just some of the initiatives on offer:

  • TRL’s MiniDigiSim (TRL Trial Zone)
  • TfL’s DigiCycle (Stand 12)
  • Tony Russell from Sustrans will present on Designing to improve cyclist safety
  • Outside on the track there will be new products for cyclists such as the Orca Cycle Separator from Rediweld in the urban section
What's even better is that all this comes completely FREE, so why not register here now to guarantee your place.