Cities and National Parks to share bike cash

The DfT has announced a new £30m competitive fund to boost cycling in cities and a new £12m fund to boost cycling in National Parks.

The Cycle Cities Ambition Grant will be awarded to two or three cities. The competition will be open to all phase one city deal cities (Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield), plus those selected in wave 2. An announcement of wave two city deals will be made shortly.

Bidding guidance will be issued shortly. The deadline for bids will be 30 April and successful projects will be announced this summer. LTT understands the funding will have to be spent over two years, 2013/14-2014/15.

A £12m fund is being set up for local authorities working in partnership with National Parks to improve conditions for cyclists. This competition will be administered by Sustrans but ministers will make decisions.

Former Cycling England chairman Phillip Darnton welcomed the funding and praised transport minister Norman Baker. “Norman has done an excellent job in winkling out money for cycling,” he said.

But Darnton said the Government’s use of one-off funding competitions for cycling schemes hampered spending the cash cost-effectively because local authorities had to mobilise teams and identify priorities in a short space of time.

“There’s a problem of continuity,” Darnton added. “You never know when the next tranche is coming or whether there will be one.” He called for a cycling line in the DfT’s budget to give more certainty.

The DfT has also announced the recipients of the £15m Community Linking Places Fund to boost cycle-rail integration and enhance community links. Sustrans and the Cycle Rail Working Group advised the DfT on the projects that should receive funding.

A further £5m is being added to the existing fund to tackle dangerous junctions.

Discuss the Cycle Cities Ambition Grant at LTT's Cycle City Expo on the 25-26 April 2013