Local authorities across the country have been awarded nearly £21m of revenue funding to support cycling, walking and public transport schemes.
Ministers have announced the 23 successful bidders in the Sustainable Transport Transition Year Revenue Competition 2016/17.
Brighton and Hove City Council was awarded £485,000
More than half the total of £20.6m went to five bids, with Birmingham CC, Bristol CC, and combined authorities for Manchester, the North East and Sheffield City Region receiving around £2.5m each.
Stockton-on-Tees BC won nearly £1m. More typically, Brighton and Hove City Council was awarded £485,000.
Transport minister Robert Goodwill said: ‘Green transport cuts congestion and improves air quality. It also offers the cheapest and healthiest way for people to access jobs and education.
‘The schemes will make a real difference for residents and help provide better air quality for everyone. Our £21m funding shows we are committed to improving lives through investment in sustainable transport.’
Ministers repeated previous assertions – set out in the recent draft Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy – that ‘Over £300m is committed to support cycling and walking over this Parliament’.
However, although this figure includes funding through the Sustainable Transport Transition Year Revenue Competition, many of the successful bids were for a mixture of cycling, walking, public transport and other measures.
North East Lincolnshire, for example, was awarded £441,000, of which £200,000 will support bus services. A further £40,000 will be spent on in the area on travel planning, to enable more people to use non-car modes, including public transport.
The £2.5m funding for Greater Manchester aims to get 1,600 more people regularly making journeys by bicycle, encourage an extra 1,300 passengers a day to use public transport, and generate more than £1.7m of health benefits.
The transition year competition bridges a gap between the popular Local Sustainable Transport Fund and a new £60m Access Fund to be launched this summer.
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