The winning bids to the Mayor’s Active Travel Fund (MATF) have been announced.
A total of 39 schemes are to share in the £4 million fund.
Mayor David Skaith said:
‘We know many people want to walk, wheel and cycle more, but too often face barriers, whether that’s concerns about safety, a lack of skills or confidence, or the cost of buying a bike.
That’s why I launched this fund: to make active travel safer, easier and more accessible for people travelling to school, training, work, healthcare appointments and leisure activities.
We received a huge number of applications from across the region, showing the demand for better infrastructure, training, and the appetite for more opportunities to make affordable and sustainable travel choices.
I’m proud to support these 39 schemes, investing in new and improved facilities, building confidence, and creating safer routes. Together they will help leave a lasting legacy of inclusive active travel, safer school journeys, and healthier, greener, more connected communities for generations to come’.
There’s a full list of the funded projects here. Some of them are highlighted below.
North York Moors National Park Authority: Active Travel Behaviour Change Programme – £499,924
This to enable more walking, wheeling and public transport use.
There is no mention of cycling, and anyway without physical infrastructure it would not achieve modal shift.
A further £51,475 has gone to the National Park Trust to employ a Programme Manager.
North Yorkshire Council: Skipton Canal Towpath Improvements – £498,875
North Yorkshire Council’s successful bid is to improve 600m of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal towpath, between the hospital and Pinder Bridge (the Keighley Road bridge over the canal).
North York Moors National Park Authority: Cinder Track Accessibility Improvements – £130,635
This project is to remove barriers from the Cinder Track and introduce adaptive bikes.
While some fragments of the track have been resurfaced (tarmac at the Whitby end, Flexipave elsewhere), the track as a whole remains very rough, and not inclusive.
City of York Council: Knavesmire Active Travel Route – £500,000
The plan is to widen and strengthen the path, and improve lighting along it.
City of York Council: Bootham Stray Active Travel Route – £340,000
The Bootham Stray path is to be widened, strengthened, and provided with lighting.
York Cycle Campaign: Pedal in the Park – £7,758
A monthly cycle training programme at York Racecourse, targeted at disabled people, older adults and women.
Similarly, York Bike Belles CIC has been awarded £74,808 to deliver inclusive cycling programmes for women, older adults, and people with health conditions.
St Robert’s Roman Catholic Primary School: Bike Libraries and Engagement Events – £16,630
This school is off Claro Road, Harrogate, and there is also to be secure bike storage as well as a behaviour change programme.
Oatlands Infant School: Bike Library, Bike Bus and Park & Stride Initiatives: £51,969
This builds on work by Oatlands Road Safety and Active Travel Campaign.
Pateley Bridge Town Council: Pump Track – £65,847
The money is for a pump track in Pateley Bridge.
It is supposed to be a stepping stone to more everyday cycling for short local trips – but unless the roads are made safe, or an alternative such as a Nidderdale Greenway extension is provided, there is unlikely to be modal shift to utility cycling.
Opinion
The MATF is evidence of Mayor David Skaith’s strong commitment to walking, wheeling and cycling.
The projects chosen are excellent, and will make a difference.
On the other hand, it is physical infrastructure that will make the biggest, lasting difference, and enable modal shift to cycling.
For physical cycle infrastructure, the Mayor is reliant on the two councils, North Yorkshire and City of York.
In North Yorkshire, we have yet to see commitment to allocating space and priority to cycling; nor has the council demonstrated the skills to deliver ambitious schemes on time, or at all.