DfT unveils £60m sustainable travel fund

Councils in England have been invited to bid for funds to support walking and cycling projects

Local authorities in England (excluding London) are being asked by the Department for Transport to apply for funds from a £60 million Sustainable Travel Access Fund.

Announcing the fund today (5 July), transport minister Robert Goodwill said the fund would help improve air quality.

The fund, for walking and cycling measures in local communities, will be run on a competition basis.

The DfT said the fund has been launched to encourage councils to offer sustainable transport initiatives which can improve access to jobs, skills, training and education.

English local authorities can bid for sustainable travel money

The cash, which will support projects over 3 years from 2017 to 2020, is part of a wider government fund of over £300 million to boost walking and cycling during the current parliament.

Councils are being encouraged to look at opportunities to work together on devising schemes. The successful authorities will be asked to contribute 10% of their scheme costs.

They are encouraged to work alongside Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), many of whom will be including sustainable transport measures, including walking and cycling investment, proposals to be submitted next month in a further round of Growth Deals where up to £1.8 billion will be available.

Easier

Mr Goodwill said: “Green sustainable transport schemes cut congestion, improve air quality and can make it easier for people to get around more efficiently and effectively.

“We are investing over £300 million to support cycling and walking schemes in this parliament, and this new scheme is aimed at kick-starting innovative and sustainable council projects.”

The results an earlier competition were announced in May, with 23 local authorities or combined authority projects sharing in £20.6 million of government cash to support a total of nearly £33.4 million worth of new projects up and down England, including:

• Let’s Get to Work in Greater Manchester
• Connecting Hampshire to Grow Rural Prosperity
• Go Smarter across the north-east

The closing date for bids under the scheme is 9 September 2016. More details at Sustainable Travel Access Fund.