Coming soon: Cycling and walking investment strategy Mk2

Government will set out new 4-year plan to support Gear Change strategy

The UK government wants to encourage more walking anc cycling

The UK government wants to encourage more walking anc cycling

The UK government will set out its plans for investing in cycling and walking in the coming months, the Department for Transport has announced.

In a statement issued on 25 March, transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “I am informing Parliament of my intention to publish as soon as possible thereafter a second 4-year statutory cycling and walking investment strategy (CWIS 2), reflecting the new policies in Gear Change and the multi-year funding settlement. The government will consult on CWIS 2 with relevant stakeholders ahead of its publication, as required by the legislation.”

In 2017, the government published the first statutory Cycling and walking investment strategy (CWIS 1), which covered the period between 2016 and 2021.

Since it was produced, the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and the Prime Minister Boris Johnson have expanded the scope and funding for the government’s cycling and walking programme, launching the Gear change: a bold vision for cycling and walking white paper in summer 2020 with £2bn of additional funding over this Parliament for active travel.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the multi-year Spending Review planned for autumn 2020 was postponed. Instead, as with most other budgets, a single-year settlement for cycling and walking reflecting the ambitions set out in gear change has been set for the year 2021 to 2022.

The government will set out plans for future years, including future funding for cycling and walking beyond 2021 to 2022, at the Spending Review later this year.