DEPARTMENT FOR
TRANSPORT News Release (061) issued by COI News Distribution Service
on 13 May 2009
Large urban areas
across England are being given the chance to bid to become the
country's first Sustainable Travel City, Transport Minister
Paul Clark announced today.
Up to £29 million over the next 3 years will be invested in at
least one of England's largest cities to encourage greener
travel choices. These could include plans to support walking,
cycling and initiatives to improve public transport.
This follows the success of the department's three
Sustainable Travels Towns who, over the last five years, have seen
car use fall by up to 9%, walking increase by up to 14%, and
cycling increase at least 12%.
Transport Minister Paul Clark said;
"Our Sustainable Travel Towns have proved that with the
right information and improved facilities we can make a real
difference to how people travel.
"Giving people a real alternative to the car not only
reduces congestion and carbon emissions but also increases the
amount of exercise they take.
"The opportunity to become England's first Sustainable
Travel City will be a chance to see these benefits on a much
larger scale and I look forward to seeing the bids coming in."
The aim of the Sustainable Travel City is to ease congestion,
reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increase levels of physical
activity in the local area. By achieving this, the City will
provide a model for others to follow. The chosen city will
introduce innovative new strategies and build on existing work to
achieve this, such as;
* Work or school travel planning;
* cycle training;
*
personalised travel planning;
* online journey planning;
*
car share and club schemes;
* dedicated bus routes;
*
improved bus stops and shelter;
* cycling / pedestrian
routes;
* 20 mph zones;
* consideration of parking provision.
The major urban areas eligible to apply suffer from the worst
congestion in the country. The 9 areas are; Greater Manchester,
West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear,
Merseyside, West of England (Bristol), Nottingham and Leicester.
We are also announcing up to £3 million of funding to smaller
local authority areas to help them develop their own green travel initiatives.
Notes to Editors
1. Eligible areas will be provided with full details and a
bidding timetable during May. England's first
'Sustainable Travel City' will be announced later in the year.
2. The final total funding will depend on the quality of
proposals and the size and number of city partners chosen. Up to
£29m will be made available over the next three years to fund this
programme including support to share learning and best practise
with all local authorities to enable them to make the most of
these measures in delivering their local objectives on congestion,
climate change and health.
3. In return for the funding, we expect the chosen city /cities
to provide a significant financial contribution and to build up an
evidence base that proves sustainable travel measures are a viable
and attractive option for the future.
4. The 9 major urban eligible areas form the Department's
urban congestion target (excluding London). They are: Greater
Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Tyne
and Wear, Merseyside, West of England (Bristol), Nottingham and Leicester.
5. Under the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 the Government
has a Public Service Agreement which the Department leads on:
Deliver reliable and efficient transport networks that support
economic growth. Underpinning this target is an indicator
regarding the journey time on main roads into urban areas. This
states: By 2010-11 the ten largest urban areas in England will
meet the congestion targets set in their local transport plan
relating to movement on main roads into city centres. These are
London, Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South
Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, Merseyside, West of England, Nottingham
and Leicester. The target will be deemed to have been met if, on
target routes in these areas, an average increase in travel of 4.4
per cent is accommodated with an average increase of 3.6 per cent
in person journey time per mile.
6. Up to £3 million of funding is also being made available for
other local authorities to help them develop their own sustainable
travel programme by overcoming barriers, deploying technical
expertise and enabling the rapid transfer of experience and best
practice. Further details will be made available later in the year.
7. The current Sustainable Travel Towns are Darlington,
Peterborough and Worcester. They were awarded around £10m by the
Department over 5 years between 2004-2009 in order to implement
"demonstration" sustainable travel programmes. This
followed the research "Smarter Choices - Changing the Way We
travel" funded by DfT in 2004, which concluded that there
were considerable potential congestion benefits to pursuing
sustainable travel packages. Results from travel diaries in the
towns have shown considerable reduction in car use, and increases
in walking, cycling and bus use. A full evaluation is underway and
will be published late in 2009.
8. Case studies are available from the existing Sustainable
Travel Towns.
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport
Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk