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The £15 million increase in the Scottish Budget for cycling and walking is a “breakthrough” for the country’s potential for carbon footprint renewal, according to Cycling UK.
The extra investment in active travel is the result of an eventual agreement between the Government and the Scottish Green Party, which was initially announced as a more modest £5.5 million per year on 6th February.
At the time, Cycling UK said this would not be enough to tackle climate change in Scotland, and needed to increase to at least £20m in 2020/21.
The additional investment now exceeds that suggestion at a total of £20.5m, meaning all 32 of Scotland’s local authorities have the potential to build dedicated cycling infrastructure. In total, the Scottish Government is now investing over £100 million per year in cycling and walking.
Jim Densham, Cycling UK’s campaigns and policy manager in Scotland said: “[The] breakthrough shows Scotland’s ambitions to cut emissions and get more people active is not just hot air.
“If spent well, [the budget] can encourage more people to be active on their shorter everyday journeys and help them reduce their carbon footprints.”
