Promoting active travel 'not a war on motorists'

Getting more people cycling and walking is not a "war on motorists" but instead about giving people safer and more effective choices for how they travel, a cycling and walking champion says.

Beccy Marston was appointed the West Midlands Combined Authority's Active Travel Commissioner last year, with a remit, she said, to remove barriers stopping people from walking, wheeling or cycling.

The authority was given a £36m funding boost to spend in the next 12 months on active travel schemes and new routes across the region.

"There is still work to be done to ensure we have the right routes and paths to enable people to walk, wheel or cycle," she said.

Marston added that encouraging shorter, local journeys to be made safely was key to changing behaviour.

"If we can get the smaller, local trips safer, that's the starting point for people to think maybe I can do a larger trip," she said.

She also pointed to the benefits of public transport and active travel over car use.

"People don't realise the full cost of a car. They don't equate that to the cost of a trip and if you break it down, it can be far cheaper to use public transport or to walk, wheel or cycle," she said.

Addressing criticism of active travel schemes, she added: "Don't see it as an attack on motorists, see it as a way to improve your health, the air that you breathe.

"This isn't a war on motorists at all.

"This is about giving you safe, viable choice to travel in a different way."

Work is ongoing on improvements in areas including Birmingham and Dudley, alongside schemes such as providing bikes to NHS workers and expanding adult and school cycling training.

She said her long-term ambition was for people to be able to cycle between towns across the West Midlands, as funding allows routes to be built section by section.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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