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Residents in the West of England have been invited to ‘find joy in the journey’ by swapping short car trips for walking or cycling to help reduce congestion and improve air quality in the region.
The new campaign from the West of England Combined Authority launched earlier this week promotes the benefits of cycling and walking to boost health and wellbeing as well as helping to build a cleaner, greener future for the West of England.
It comes as the number of people cycling and walking reached record levels during lockdown and new cycling and walking measures have been put in place to build confidence and enable residents to cycle and walk more easily.
– 11% of people are cycling more during lockdown
– 33% of people are walking more during lockdown
– 62% of people are willing to do more cycling and walking to reduce their contribution to climate change
– 94% of people in the West of England think it would be a better place if more people walked or cycled
“During lockdown, many people have taken advantage of quieter roads to walk or cycle more regularly,” said West of England mayor Tim Bowles. “As more people begin to return to school, college and work we have a real opportunity to capture the positive changes we have seen to improve the physical and mental health of residents, improve air quality and ease congestion across the West of England.
“That’s why I’m encouraging more people to find joy in the journey by swapping a short car journey for walking or cycling whether commuting to work, taking the kids to school or popping to the shops. Not only will walking or cycling boost your mood but it will also help us on the road to a greener future for the region.”
Jon Usher, head of partnerships at Sustrans, added: “Our research shows that even before the COVID pandemic, a majority of residents in the West of England supported measures to improve walking and cycling on high streets and the restriction of traffic outside schools and on residential streets.
“As schools and workplaces reopen in September we need to take this opportunity to make active travel the obvious choice for all ages and abilities. It’s great to see the measures that the West of England Combined Authority and councils in the region have already taken and we fully support the vision for the future.”
The campaign has been planned in partnership with Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, North Somerset Council and South Gloucestershire Council as well as many partner organisations across the region.
Councillor Mike Bell, deputy leader of North Somerset Council, said: “Since the start of lockdown, we’ve seen many more people in North Somerset taking to their feet or two wheels to get from A to B or just to enjoy the area. We have a great network of cycling and walking routes across North Somerset with more on the horizon, so there’s never been a better time for active travel. The icing on the cake is that using the strength in your legs to get about has the added benefits of improving mental health, physical health, getting to know our beautiful area better and contributing to reduced production of carbon emissions.”
Business West’s latest business survey shows that COVID-19 has accelerated many business’ plans to encourage employees to walk and cycle more. 54% of the 500 businesses surveyed said they are putting in plans to increase the uptake of cycling amongst employees, with a further 34% saying that they are investing in supporting infrastructure to help store bikes securely.
The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) has agreed £13 million investment in measures to enable cycling and walking in the region. £3 million will underwrite the cost of short-term measures such as widened pavements and temporary cycle lanes to help people to maintain social distancing while walking and cycling. A further £10 million has been agreed for longer-term solutions to encourage active travel in the region.
WECA has recently submitted its second bid to the Government for active travel and has recently adopted the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. The bid includes further proposals to extend and strengthen the temporary measures already in place across the region to enable cycling and walking.
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