Bikeability funding boost for Âé¶¹¸ßÇå
Tens of thousands of Âé¶¹¸ßÇå children will benefit from cycle training after the city was awarded a £1.2 million grant enabling the Bikeability scheme to continue until March 2020.
Âé¶¹¸ßÇå City Council has been granted the funding by the Department for Transport (DfT) to continue running the Government’s flagship cycle training programme, which is designed to give children the skills and confidence to ride their bikes safely on the city’s roads.
The funding will enable 37,742 children in Âé¶¹¸ßÇå to be trained over the next three-and-a-half years.
This will further boost the objectives of the council’s , which aims to make cycling an everyday way to travel in the city over the next 20 years, with a target of five per cent of all trips in Âé¶¹¸ßÇå made by bike in 2023, doubling to 10 per cent by 2033.
It also fits in with the Âé¶¹¸ßÇå Connected vision, which aims to encourage safer and more sustainable forms of transport around the city.
Councillor Stewart Stacey, cabinet member for transport and roads at Âé¶¹¸ßÇå City Council, said: “Âé¶¹¸ßÇå has some of the busiest roads in the country, creating congestion and impacting on the environment, and one way to tackle this is to encourage people to consider alternative, more sustainable ways of travelling around the city, such as cycling.
“The children of today will be the commuters of tomorrow, so let’s ensure we equip them now with the skills and confidence they need to cycle on the city’s roads.
“This funding is great news for Âé¶¹¸ßÇå and will provide a welcome boost to the objectives of the Âé¶¹¸ßÇå Cycle Revolution, as well as helping to create a sustainable city for generations to come.”
Bikeability was launched nationally in 2006, with the council delivering the scheme in the city’s schools since 2007.