Greater Manchester is set to benefit from more than £20m of investment in sustainable and active modes of travel.
From building new crossings and improving pavements to expanding the cycle hire scheme, the latest funding allocation – agreed at a meeting of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) – is part of a continued wider ambition to expand walking, wheeling and cycling provision as part of the Bee Network.
It comes after Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham committed with other Mayors of England in July to giving more healthy and green travel options to millions of residents across the city-region.
In Greater Manchester, this means a commitment to continuing the city-region’s plans around the integrated Bee Network. Working alongside local authorities and partners, by 2027 TfGM anticipates 176km of Bee Network standard segregated walking, wheeling and cycling routes will have been completed across the city-region.
The latest allocation of funding was approved by members of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority today (Friday 22 August) for a range of active travel schemes, including:
Active travel infrastructure – £8.6m for improved or replaced surfacing for walking, wheeling and cycling, new crossings and upgraded junctions, bus stops and traffic management.
School Streets – £2m towards maintenance on highways near to schools such as dropped kerbs, improvement of pavements and footpaths and traffic management.
Bee Network crossings- £2m for new or upgraded traffic signal junctions near schools.
Cycle hire – £1.5m towards new e-bikes and the extension of the existing Starling Bank Bike hire contract to 2028, to continue enhancing the fleet and with the potential to expand the footprint of the existing scheme.
Community-led schemes – £1.7m for schemes that help people make the switch to active travel, including bike libraries, walk to school and learn to ride schemes.
Bee Network scheme development – £2.2m for new Local Authority-led active travel schemes.
Remedial works – £1.1m for the maintenance and renewal of existing active travel schemes, including changes to existing paths and routes and addressing access issues that prevent those with mobility needs from using certain routes.
A further £500,000 was approved for both secure cycle parking and new route signage.
Active Travel commissioner Dame Sarah Storey, said: “Last year’s Active Travel Annual report identified a number of areas that needed significant investment in order to address some of the barriers affecting people from feeling safe enough to walk, wheel or cycle their everyday short journeys.
“The allocation of funding in this latest approval is very welcomed to enable more pavements, cycle routes and crossings to be upgraded, as well as to further develop other parts of the programme across the region for the coming years.”
In 2023, a third of all trips made by Greater Manchester residents in 2023 were made by people travelling actively.
In the last five years, Greater Manchester has seen the proportion of people walking short journeys increase from 52% to 57%, while the proportion of short journeys being taken by car is down from 41% to 36%.
