Can Chris Boardman lead new Active Travel England to real change?

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Active Travel England, the Government’s new cycling and walking executive agency, launches with Chris Boardman as interim commissioner. The former Olympian has long been a champion for cycling as transport, and has been forthright in his campaigns for better infrastructure and road justice. But he’s been at it a long while – from British Cycling spokesperson, to Transport Commissioner for Manchester, he’s been pushing for improvements. Will this new role give him the opportunity to get the step-change needed to normalise cycling for transport, and shift the investment and infrastructure in this country away from its car centric focus?

Cycle infrastructure, UK style. At least it’s car free…

The government would like to draw your attention to these key points:

  • New £5.5 million investment in cycling and walking schemes, including £300,000 top up to E-cargo bike schemes; £3mn to improve cycling infrastructure around train stations; and to explore active travel on prescription
  • Cyclist Chris Boardman is to become national commissioner of the Government’s new cycling and walking body, Active Travel England, which launches today.

Those of us who actually use bikes for transport may raise a cynical eyebrow. £5.5 million pounds is peanuts in the grand scheme of transport things. Let’s take a quick dive over to Wikipedia for a few road schemes by comparison:

  • Capacity increase for three junctions along the A38 in Derby, expected to start in 2021 and be completed by 2024–25 at a cost of £200 million to £250 million
  • M6 junction 19 capacity increase, expected to be completed in 2021 at a cost of between £31 million and £66 million
  • Grade separation of the Sheriffhall roundabout on the Edinburgh City Bypass, expected to cost £120 million

So, let’s not get too excited with visions of miles of joined up segregated cycleways just yet (although, this is £5.5 million in addition to a much more significant funding packages previously announced).

New road laws.

£300,000 is expected to buy up to 250 e-cargo bikes which is a) cheap for e-cargo bikes and b) not actually very many bikes. How many delivery vans do you see in a day? £3mn to improve cycle infrastructure around train stations – yay, so now we might be able to securely park our bikes? Because we all know how impossible it is to actually get your bike on a train in the UK.

‘Explore active travel on prescription’. Yes! The links between ill health, poverty, poor access to transport, poor access to fresh food shops, and affordable transport to work are well established and intertwined. Maybe a bike could play a role in tackling that? And don’t forget that ‘active travel’ includes walking too.

And what of the new Active Travel England body? If that’s got some teeth then it could certainly improve the standard of some of the infrastructure that councils put in place – imagine being able to follow a cycle path that didn’t randomly disappear or put you on and off sections of pavement and on a sign post slalom?

Every penny invested in active travel has got to be a good thing. We really hope Chris Boardman and the new Active Travel England manages to make some real changes to the priority given to active travel in England. However, Chris’ appointment is only on an interim basis – will he throw his hat in the ring to take it on permanently, or will the interim role make him want to throw in the towel? Can we persuade Bez to apply?

https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/what-one-old-lady-can-teach-you-about-cycling/
https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/some-blue-signs/

Here’s the official government press release:

Active Travel England will be responsible for driving up the standards of cycling and walking infrastructure and managing the national active travel budget, awarding funding for projects that improve both health and air quality.

ATE will also begin to inspect, and publish reports on, highway authorities for their performance on active travel and identify particularly dangerous failings in their highways for cyclists and pedestrians.

As well as approving and inspecting schemes, ATE will help local authorities, training staff and spreading good practice in design, implementation and public engagement. It will be a statutory consultee on major planning applications to ensure that the largest new developments properly cater for pedestrians and cyclists.

Boardman will be closely involved in the full stand-up of ATE, including the recruitment of the chief executive and management team. He has been appointed on an interim basis, while the Department conducts a full and open competition for the permanent commissioner role.

Chris is the country’s leading figurehead for active travel and delivered the first phase of Manchester’s public transport system known as the ’Bee Network’. He will now lead the Active Travel England team in its work to raise the standards of cycling and walking infrastructure, in line with the principles set out in Gear Change: a bold new vision for walking and cycling. 

The new body will be headquartered in York from Summer 2022 and preliminary work is already underway, scrutinising councils’ plans for active travel and supporting them to create ambitious schemes that will enable more people to walk, wheel and cycle safely.

The Government is today also announcing £5.5 million of new funding for local authorities, train operators and businesses to encourage various active travel schemes, including a £300,000 top-up to E-cargo bike schemes, £3 million to improve cycling infrastructure around train stations, and £2.2 million to explore ‘active travel on prescription’ schemes.

ATE’s establishment follows the Government’s unprecedented commitment of £2bn for cycling and walking over this parliament.

Active travel Minister Trudy Harrison said:

“Cycling and walking is not only beneficial for our health and the environment, but can also be great fun and is a brilliant way to connect communities.

“This funding is about giving people across the country the opportunity to different forms of travel, as well as supporting local businesses with the transition to greener transport. I’m very much looking forward to working with our new active travel commissioner to improve standards for everyone.”

Active travel commissioner for England Chris Boardman said:

“The positive effects of high levels of cycling and walking are clearly visible in pockets around the country where people have been given easy and safe alternatives to driving. Perhaps most important of all, though, it makes for better places to live while helping both the NHS and our mission to decarbonise.”

“The time has come to build on those pockets of best practice and enable the whole nation to travel easily and safely around their neighbourhoods without feeling compelled to rely on cars. I’m honoured to be asked to lead on this and help deliver the ambitious vision laid out in the government’s Gear Change strategy and other local transport policies.

“This will be a legacy we will proud to leave for our children and for future generations. It’s time to make it a reality; it’s time for a quiet revolution.”

This is part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to create safer streets for people to enjoy cycling and walking and boost air quality as it builds back greener from the pandemic.

More than 30 local authorities have received part of a £2.2 million pot of Department for Transport funding for feasibility studies into creating ‘cycling and walking on prescription’ schemes. The Government wants active travel embedded into our established system of social subscribing, as a proven method to improve physical and mental health.

The feasibility studies will develop innovative projects linking local active travel, physical activity and health networks to support people to choose to make more short journeys on foot or by cycle. The pilots will be focused in areas where health inequalities are evident, or levels of physical activity are low.

Health minister Maria Caulfield said:

“This vital investment in cycling and walking schemes is providing new ways to improve the health and wellbeing of the nation and builds on the rollout of social prescribing across the NHS.

“We must do all we can to level up health disparities across the country, meaning everyone, no matter where they are from, can lead healthier, happier lives”

The Department for Transport’s national e-cargo bike fund, which subsidises the cost of e-cargo delivery bikes for small businesses, will also receive a £300,000 top-up to build on the scheme’s success so far, with applications exceeding the funding available. This will enable businesses across the country to purchase up to 250 more e-cargo bikes to deliver goods in their local area.

This all comes as it has been confirmed that 14 local authorities have successfully secured part of a £1.2m fund to support the purchase of e-cargo bikes by local businesses, enabling the transition from motor vehicles as we work to decarbonise the entire transport network. The bikes can be used for deliveries and transportation by local businesses or councils themselves.

Finally, train operators will receive part of a £2 million investment for 24 projects to provide more secure cycle parking facilities at 23 train stations across the country, with a further £1 million spent on creating dedicated cycle routes to 5 stations. This comes as the Government takes action on the commitments set out in “Gear Change” and the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail and will both improve both the quality and safety of cycling facilities at stations.

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Home Forums Can Chris Boardman lead new Active Travel England to real change?

  • This topic has 161 replies, 42 voices, and was last updated 2 years ago by igm.
Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 161 total)
  • Can Chris Boardman lead new Active Travel England to real change?
  • ton
    Full Member

    just heard this on the radio. i like Chris Boardman, he knows and understands what cyclists need. i hope he has great success with this.

    stwhannah
    Full Member

    @ton I agree, he’s the perfect guy for the job. I’m not sure how long I could keep banging the same drum and making such slow progress, so I hope he doesn’t get worn down by endless government machinations.

    boardmanfs18
    Full Member

    Hopefully Chris will be able to make a difference but in my opinion there is one glaring omission from these plans.

    They never mention how to tackle the cycle theft epidemic.

    jimmy
    Full Member

    Cycle theft is one for the police, not ATE. It would be a distraction completely out of their remit. ATE need to be allowed to concentrate on their core purpose.

    Unless you’re talking bigger picture, but then cycles aren’t the only thing thieved.

    stwhannah
    Full Member

    Theft might not be in their remit, but I wonder if insurance and storage might be? It seems perverse that you can live in a flat, buy a car (or motorbike), park it on the street or in any number of parking spots at shops etc, and have it insured against theft or damage regardless of where you park it. But buy a bike – or cargo bike – and you might just about manage to claim back if you use a gold standard lock and attach it to just the right sort of fixture and that’s assuming you can find a space for it anywhere in the first place…

    nickjb
    Free Member

    Great person for the job. When he stopped competition cycling he got into scuba diving. Full on deep technical diving and writing for a magazine. I dived with him in Portland. He really goes all in and gives it 100%. Gave a good performance on BBC breakfast this morning despite some fatuous questions.

    qwerty
    Free Member

    Hopefully Chris will be able to make a difference but in my opinion there is one glaring omission from these plans.

    They never mention how to tackle the issue of squeezing new walking and cycling infrastructure into the UKs narrow and overcrowded car dominated roads & towns.

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    @qwerty That’s both easy and hard, remove the cars and the problem is solved. In the meantime we take space all ready there and allocate it to active transport. Those who are active are contributing to an improvement in the urban environment.

    MSP
    Full Member

    They never mention how to tackle the issue of squeezing new walking and cycling infrastructure into the UKs narrow and overcrowded car dominated roads & towns.

    Population density per km2

    Belgium 383
    Netherlands 508
    UK 281
    Germany 240
    Italy 206
    France 119
    Denmark 137

    Of the four most densely populated countries, this is only an excuse claimed in the one lagging way behind the rest for cycling infrastructure. It is an excuse not a reason.

    nickjb
    Free Member

    That’s both easy and hard, remove the cars and the problem is solved. In the meantime we take space all ready there and allocate it to active transport. Those who are active are contributing to an improvement in the urban environment.

    Spot on. If you are part of the problem, make life harder, part of solution, make life easier. It was so much nicer to walk, run, cycle, and generally be outside during lockdown.

    There’s always the argument that “I have to drive”, and that’s fair, but getting more cars off the road actually helps them too.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    On the BBC article why is he riding without a helmet?

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60092864

    butcher
    Full Member

    They never mention how to tackle the cycle theft epidemic.

    They’ve still not solved this problem in the Netherlands and yet they have more bikes than people. They also park them out in the street at home. The answer is not to spend stupid money on a bike for everyday transport, and if it gets stolen its still way cheaper than driving.

    They never mention how to tackle the issue of squeezing new walking and cycling infrastructure into the UKs narrow and overcrowded car dominated roads & towns.

    Cycling and walking infrastructure takes up very little space. Automotive infrastructure is the primary problem because its such an inefficient use of space, driving around in, and storing multi-occupancy vehicles which are mostly used to transport individual people. It’s densely populated areas where active travel makes the most sense.

    nickjb
    Free Member

    On the BBC article why is he riding without a helmet?

    Because he is doing a safe activity that doesn’t require one.

    stevious
    Full Member

    By most accounts he’s made a lot of progress in greater Manchester in a short space of time. It’ll be interesting to see how he applies what he’s learned to a wider picture.

    As for anyone arguing that we don’t have enough space for active travel, one could easily argue that where space is restricted, that means there’s no space for cars.

    b33k34
    Full Member

    No-one better to lead this – a former sport cyclist who truly understands the role of cycling as an everyday form of transport. Needs the political will and funding to make it happen but as a spokesman and public face there is no-one better.

    On the BBC article why is he riding without a helmet?

    Watch this where he explains exactly why

    https://fb.watch/aHLhqxHWbT/

    frankconway
    Free Member

    It’s an ‘executive agency’ so what power and authority does it have?
    Does it have a meaningful budget?
    How many staff does it have?
    What commitment, if any, has the Treasury given to fund nationwide investment in active travel? How much money ring-fenced and over how many years?
    How truly committed are government departments and local authorities to supporting active travel?
    Chris Boardman’s appointment is as interim head which doesn’t suggest permanency of tenure – unless he wants the job on a permanent basis.
    He’s a very strong advocate for active travel but without the resources to develop and implement meaningful integrated policies and schemes this will get stuck in central government treacle.
    I wish him and ATE every possible success but my pragmatic view is nothing much will change.

    weeksy
    Full Member

    Watch this where he explains exactly why

    https://fb.watch/aHLhqxHWbT/

    Can’t agree. I’m sure in some bits of Holland he specifically mentions it is somewhat safe, but we’re not in Holland. We’re vin the UK with UK roads, paths and public.

    desperatebicycle
    Full Member
    ratherbeintobago
    Full Member

    By most accounts he’s made a lot of progress in greater Manchester in a short space of time. It’ll be interesting to see how he applies what he’s learned to a wider picture.

    So people keep saying. The problem is that it’s not borne out by the reality on the ground, where e.g. Rochdale has yet to start construction of its very modest Beeline (which connects the canal to the town centre, and not much else), and what there is isn’t a connected network, either to nodal points or to other routes.

    This isn’t Boardman’s fault – he had no powers to compel councils to act. See today’s WRGM press release

    b33k34
    Full Member

    Can’t agree. I’m sure in some bits of Holland he specifically mentions it is somewhat safe, but we’re not in Holland. We’re vin the UK with UK roads, paths and public.

    Make your own risk assessment for yourself, wear your magic hat, buy yourself a crash helmet for the car and a waterproof one for the shower, and then leave others to make their own risk assessment based on evidence. Such a bizarre thing for people to be judgmental about.

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    This isn’t Boardman’s fault – he had no powers to compel councils to act. See today’s WRGM press release

    Yeah, the Bee Network thing, after a blaze of publicity when it launched, has met with varying degrees of apathy, ineptitude, mismanagement and watering down from the 10 councils that make up Greater Manchester. It’s not Boardman’s fault at all – they had no legal powers forcing councils to act and many of them backed down at the first hint of any negativity.

    I’ve got reasonable hopes for ATE and they seem to have a bit more about them forcing councils to put in proper infra rather than the usual “any old shite to appease the lycra mob” but I’ll believe it when I see it.

    I have to say though, Chris is an absolute legend to have been putting up with this middle management crap from councils for so long. Calmly and methodically breaking down all the arguments against it, all the noise and distractions about helmets / insurance / hi viz and other assorted bollocks. I couldn’t maintain that professionalism, I’d be hitting Councillors around the head shouting “why are you so **** thick?!”

    ratherbeintobago
    Full Member

    The other great Beeline routing issue is that some obvious routes have already got crappy paint based ‘infra’ on them. But there’s no money to bring this up to spec, only to build new routes…

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    Can’t agree. I’m sure in some bits of Holland he specifically mentions it is somewhat safe, but we’re not in Holland. We’re vin the UK with UK roads, paths and public.

    A personal anecdote. Cycling to work is a no helmet activity (21-ish km each way on the road) and I don’t hang about downhill. Never worn a helmet for this in 5 years, number of accidents 0, number of falls 1 (a cleat didn’t release and I fell into the road no bumped head). Road commuting is a generally a very safe activity.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    A personal anecdote.

    Don’t be silly, I don’t want to derail the thread – wear what you want, but I’ve never needed a seatbelt, an airbag, a life jacket on a plane etc etc etc and they’re still important.

    sharkey
    Free Member

    Chris is a great figurehead and advocate but in Manchester has been hampered by lack of budget and frankly interest from most of the councils. I fear the same limitations here, the news report mentions £5million government funding which is peanuts. I think I read new cycle lanes cost £500k per km

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    They never mention how to tackle the issue of squeezing new walking and cycling infrastructure into the UKs narrow and overcrowded car dominated roads & towns.

    Easy, you ban cars. Why are hundreds of pedestrians made to use about 20% of the width of the street, so that about 10 cars can sit in a traffic jam?

    Of the four most densely populated countries, this is only an excuse claimed in the one lagging way behind the rest for cycling infrastructure. It is an excuse not a reason.

    To be fair the two above us got completely flattened twice in the last century, so it’s not entirely a fair comparison.

    If you walk around a post-war tower block estate in this country there are underpasses, overpasses, footpaths, cycle paths, Dr surgeries, shops, schools etc all within a walkable distance. We just don’t view that sort of mixed-use, high-density housing as desireable. When in reality it’s as much part of the solution as building the paths/lanes.

    They’re talking about another 2500 homes on the university agricultural collage farmland / floodlpain south of the M4 at Reading. This is great if you think chasing the suburban-/rural house + car commute is still the future. Rubbish if you think building houses on greenbelt 8 miles* out of town where each subsequent house is adding 20m-30m to the commute of the next one. Vs putting the same number of units on a redeveloped brownfield site nearer the town, with short commutes and you don’t add further commutes to subsequent homes.

    ayjaydoubleyou
    Full Member

    Him not wearing a helmet can only hurt one person – him.
    Clearly former pro Chris would still ride a bike even if a helmet was compulsory, but for someone else, ruining their hair or just carrying the thing round all day once they get into town may be the deal breaker for them.
    Every new cyclist on the road makes YOU safer, as bikes are more visible and normal.

    ratherbeintobago
    Full Member

    in Manchester has been hampered by lack of budget

    I thought half of the Manchester ATF hadn’t been claimed? Problem is more a complete lack of political will – see also the CAZ fiasco and the Great Ancoats St ‘European-style boukevard’

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    On the BBC article why is he riding without a helmet?

    Because – rightly or wrongly – wearing a helmet is seen by many as a barrier to cycling.

    Being able to cycle without “needing” one is the goal of this plan.

    As they are not a legal requirement, why put people off by showing him wearing one?

    (I always wear one, I’ve damaged three in crashes, but none of those crashes involved traffic. I’m happy to let people make their own choices.)

    MSP
    Full Member

    To be fair the two above us got completely flattened twice in the last century, so it’s not entirely a fair comparison.

    Walk around an average Dutch, Belgium or German town and you will find them just as hapahazard, and crowded as British towns and cities. It is just jingoistic excuse making to pretend that the UK has unique problems that prevent the same infrastructure planning of those other countries.

    The real difference has been the political will, from the 70’s and 80’s they have had organised plans to integrate public transport, pedestrians and cycling into their infastructure. While the uk has largely left it to the market. Which has lead to powerful and well financed lobbies dictating policy.

    That is also why we shouldn’t be too hard on CB for the impact that he has had so far in Manchester, this is not a problem that can be solved over 2 or 5 years. it is going to take 30 – 40 maybe 50 years just to catch up. We will probably see minimal impact in our lives but as long as progress can be made future generations can reap the reward.

    b33k34
    Full Member

    If you walk around a post-war tower block estate in this country there are underpasses, overpasses, footpaths, cycle paths,

    Yes, there was a load of innovation from the 50’s to the 70’s but some mistakes were made – underpasses and overpasses are still measures that prioritise motoring rather than walking. It’s pedestrians and cyclists who have to go far out of their way, up or down a steep slope, into a dark, dangerous feeling underpass. We built estates with footpaths and alleyways that weren’t overlooked so again they felt unsafe – particularly when many of these estates suffered underinvestment and high crime levels. Milton Keynes was held up as the city where cycleways were built and not used but even there they were hidden away and indirect whilst driving was made super-easy.

    The reaction to that was that ‘permeability’ was bad so we’ve had decades of building suburban housing with cul-de-sacs and no links between them so each street is cut off from the next, walking is inconvenient and everyone ends up driving.

    crazy-legs
    Full Member

    I thought half of the Manchester ATF hadn’t been claimed? Problem is more a complete lack of political will – see also the CAZ fiasco and the Great Ancoats St ‘European-style boukevard’

    Not sure about the funding – how much has or hasn’t been claimed. However, one of the major problems in Transport is the way that improvements are funded and this filters through to the comments you see about spending £x per head on Active Travel.

    You can spend £100 / head on Active Travel but if what you’re doing is a total shambles, it’s money pissed up the wall.

    DfT publicises that it has a pot of money for, I dunno, “junction improvements”. It invites councils to bid for portions of it. Cash-strapped councils pop in their bids – lets say they ask for £100,000 but actually get awarded £75,000 because God forbid that the government might actually want to encourage anyone to do things properly. That £75k is not enough to do the work that was originally bid for so they cut out various bits and pieces of it (usually the pedestrian and cycling bits) and you end up with a half-arsed “improvement” scheme that is nothing of the sort.

    This “not quite enough” funding is prevalent throughout the entire industry but equally, councils have to bid for it, they desperately need the funds. And then if they don’t spend the funds, they get clawed back which is why you find councils desperately spaffing money away on “active travel” stuff that involves painting a white line down a gutter and putting some Cyclists Dismount signs around the place – excellent, £30k well spent, we can bid for more of the same next time around.

    Hopefully, having an organisation that actually looks at the quality of schemes might start to have an impact on what is delivered.

    i_scoff_cake
    Free Member

    Manchester was turned into an ulgy place thanks to the inner ring road and associated radial roads built and modified in the 70s respectively. They created a kind of hostile urban desert for pedestrians and cyclists. Massive mistake in my view.

    kentishman
    Free Member

    I do hope that this can make a difference. But I am finding the roads are getting more dangerous these days with cars getting ever wider and taller, they take up so much room and feel very intimidating. This to me will put more people off so sadly I can only see fewer people using bike as transport.

    ratherbeintobago
    Full Member

    Manchester was turned into an ulgy place thanks to the inner ring road and associated radial roads built and modified in the 70s respectively.

    Which is true, but there’s no reason things can’t be changed. There is no reason to take a private car inside the inner ring road, except that CoM council make so much money from mobility hubs car parks.

    This to me will put more people off so sadly I can only see fewer people using bike as transport.

    Which is true, hence the need to get adequate active travel infra that goes to places people want to go and forms sensible routes built. Adequate road policing resource and enforcement would help too mind you.

    thepodge
    Free Member

    Didn’t he quit a government job because he said no one there was actually interested in what he was doing?

    I hope the fact that he’s taken this post means he thinks he’ll be able to achieve something this time.

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    But I am finding the roads are getting more dangerous these days with cars getting ever wider and taller, they take up so much room and feel very intimidating.

    On the plus side if you cycle primary the driver of the wide vehicle has to assess things as they must cross the centre (line) to get past. As they are usually rentals this leads them to being more cautious to avoid damaging the vehicle they don’t own.

    ton
    Full Member

    after spending 37 years cycle commuting to work, i spent my time riding alongside empty pavements for the 10 miles each way. why can we not upgrade all pavements to dual use ?
    it works in holland, france and norway to name 3 more forward thinking countries.

    greatbeardedone
    Free Member

    It would help if the people actually involved in urban planning, etc (councillors), could only use their cars to get to work once a week.

    That would focus their attention.

    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    On the BBC article why is he riding without a helmet?

    And there in a nutshell is an illustration of the stupidity of the British public in general, and an indication of what an impossible task Boardman has.

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