The "Get Britain Cycling" inquiry report referred to in an earlier post
Futures Forum: Cycling: national policy outlined
was very positive about Devon County Council's policies on cycling:
Devon highlighted in Get Britain Cycling report
Posted on: 24 April
2013
Devon has been
highlighted in the All Party Parliamentary Group’s “Get Britain Cycling”
inquiry report which has been published today (Wednesday 24 April).
Devon County Council’s Head of Highways
Lester Willmington addressed the inquiry in Westminster in
February to detail how more people have been encouraged to cycle in Devon.
Today’s report is
calling for the Prime Minister and Transport Secretary to publicly commit to an
action plan, backed by all Government departments to promote cycling and cycle
safety. The group has set out its
long-term ambition to increase cycle use from less than 2% of journeys in 2011,
to 10% of all journeys in 2025, and 25% by 2050.
Devon County Council
features in the report for helping to encourage around a 15% growth in average daily cycle trips across the whole county,
and over 40% growth in Exeter over the past five years. During this time,
countywide traffic levels fell by 1.5% and in Exeter they fell by 5.4%.
One of Devon’s
flagship routes, the Exe Estuary Trail,
has seen annual cycle trips increase from around 70,000 in 2009 to more than
110,000 by 2012, an increase of 59%. Since 2007 over 20,000 children across
Devon have received Bikeability training
in the county and funding for 2013 will enable a further 7,000 children to
receive training which improves their skills and confidence.
Through its Devon Cycling Strategy, the County
Council has also committed to a further £13.9 million investment programme to
2015 to continue development of key cycle routes.
Zsolt Schuller, Devon County Council’s
Strategic Sustainable Travel Officer, said: “Investing in
cycling makes sense on so many levels. It improves health, its non-polluting,
helps ease congestion in our built up areas and boosts the economy. There is a
real momentum behind cycling and we’re pleased that the improvements made
across Devon have been successful in getting more people cycling more often,
and that is recognised in this report.
“There is still,
however, a considerable amount of work to do and we are continuing to work with
communities to provide new routes and facilities so that more and more people
can choose cycling for everyday journeys and for leisure.“
The full “Get Britain
Cycling” report is available at http://allpartycycling.org.
The Devon business community is very much behind cycling:
Devon asked to help Get Britain Cycling
Written: 13 March 2013
Devon County Council chiefs have today (Wednesday 27
February) been advising the Government on how to get more people cycling.
Devon was invited to send a representative to
Westminster to speak to the All Party Parliamentary Group’s “Get Britain
Cycling” inquiry today, following its success with boosting cycling in the
county.
Devon County Council has invested over £13.1 million
in cycling infrastructure between 2009 and 2012, as well as attracting external
funding such as the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, Connect 2 funding from
Sustrans and the Big Lottery Fund, and European funding through Cycle West.
The Council’s commitment to cycling was emphasised
last July with Cabinet approval for the Devon Cycling Strategy which outlined a
further £13.9 million investment programme to 2015.
Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet
Member for Highways and Transportation, said: “We made a commitment to be a
cycling county and we have achieved that – improving infrastructure to make
cycling a more realistic option for local people, whether they’re travelling to
work or school or cycling in their leisure time. The improvements to our cycle
network have made our county an even more attractive destination for visitors,
which is helping to support our local economy. We have a number of
well-established, high profile routes such as the Tarka Trail, as well as more
recently completed routes such as Drake’s Trail, which is part of the European
Cycle West routes.”
Devon’s Cycling Strategy is setting out aspirations on
how to create better connections between Devon’s 29 Market and Coastal Towns
and to make it a feasible option for people to travel by bike where they live,
learn, work and play.
The investment made by Devon County Council in cycling
in recent years has been recognised with Devon County Council being ranked the
best performing county authority in regards to cycling in the National Highways
and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey 2012, as well as receiving a number of
awards including the Cycling Improvements Awards at the National Transport Awards
in 2010, and Best All Round Scheme for Tourism from the Devon Federation of
Small Businesses last year.
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