Chris Boardman is set to become the national commissioner for a body that will put in place new cycling infrastructure around railway stations to the tune of £3 million.
The new government-created body, Active Travel England, is going to oversee standards for cycling and walking infrastructure. It will manage a national active travel budget and award funding to projects that meet national standards.
It will also inspect schemes and retrieve cash from any projects that are not completed or haven’t started or finished on time.
It will publish reports on how highway authorities are trying to encourage active travel, spot dangers in road networks to cyclists and pedestrians and deliver training to local authorities. It will also have a role in major planning applications.
As part of the new initiative, 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.
Chris will have a hands-on role, choosing the chief executive and management team.
He is in the role on an interim basis while the Department for Transport conducts a full, open competition for the 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.
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.
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 be 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.”
