Greater Manchester’s Active Travel Commissioner, Dame Sarah Storey, has unveiled a refreshed active travel mission for Greater Manchester focusing on accessibility, behaviour change and clear communications.
The updated policy sets out Dame Sarah’s priorities and approach to active travel in Greater Manchester to ensure the benefits of walking, wheeling and cycling are unlocked for all residents and communities.
Active travel is central to the future of transport in the city-region and a key component in the delivery of a fully-integrated transport system, the Bee Network.
Launching the refreshed vision at The Edge Arena in Wigan , Dame Sarah seeks to build on the foundations of Greater Manchester’s existing active travel system – which has so far seen at least 92km of routes adopted into the Bee Network by May 2022 and the successful roll-out of the first phase of the GM cycle hire scheme.
The new policy, Refreshing Greater Manchester’s Active Travel Mission, highlights the benefits of active travel and why it is fundamental to the success of other key agendas for Greater Manchester, including improved health, decarbonisation, educational attainment and the economy.
Backed up by the evidence, Dame Sarah’s refreshed agenda calls for further momentum to ensure that all communities can reap the benefits of active travel. Improving accessibility and enabling greater uptake of active travel sit at the heart of the commissioner’s role and policy, with an emphasis on the importance of walking and wheeling as the most accessible form of active travel.
Five key priorities underpin Dame Sarah’s refreshed active mission and will all drive the work and focus of the policy in the coming years.
These priorities include; Infrastructure Delivery; Home to School Travel; Cycle Hire and access to cycling; Integration with Public Transport and Road Danger Reduction.
Dame Sarah Storey said:
“I am delighted to share the refreshed active travel mission for Greater Manchester and show everyone how we plan to build on the successes of the region’s first Cycling and Walking Commissioner, Chris Boardman.
“Providing people with the opportunity to walk, wheel or cycle is fundamental to helping us move around Greater Manchester in different ways, particularly for short trips or giving barrier free access to public transport stops.
“But the benefits of active travel go beyond simply getting from one place to another. Research has shown how it can dramatically improve people’s health and wellbeing over time, and prevent thousands of long-term health conditions in this city-region alone.
“And in the current cost-of-living crisis, enabling people to switch an existing journey by car to one on foot or bike could ease the financial pressure on household budgets.
“In short, we cannot afford to not act on this agenda and now is the right time to revisit existing priorities and refresh the mission for Greater Manchester.
“I look forward to working with the Mayor, local authority leaders, the Transport Commissioner and community groups to drive forward delivery of the active travel strategy and make this the best place in the country to walk, wheel and cycle.”
