‘Active travel backlash a risk to Gear Change’

Transport secretary Grant Shapps says too many schemes delivered with the DfT’s Emergency Active Travel Fund have been out of step with the needs of local communities

02 November 2020

Anonymous is “neither secure in my job, nor a well-paid civil servant”.

Many councils say the DfT’s grant conditions left them with no choice but to implement schemes without consultation

It’s always the way: things that don’t go right get more attention than things that do. As Grant Shapps points out in his letter to council leaders, many of the schemes implemented using Emergency Active Travel Fund (EATF) have performed well. But it’s the “significant minority” of projects that were “nowhere near good enough” that have been occupying his mind, with complaints coming in from political colleagues, pressure groups, businesses and...