Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, is urging the Government to boost efforts to increase cycling and walking journeys by investing in safe infrastructure.

Mr Street and Transport for the West Midlands have committed to increasing levels of walking and cycling to five per cent of all journeys by 2023. 

In a letter to Under Secretary of State for Transport, Jesse Norman MP, the Mayor has asked the Department of Transport to support the West Midlands in increasing investment on cycling to £10 per head by 2023, focused on new and upgraded cycling infrastructure.

He has also asked that traffic enforcement powers be devolved directly to the West Midlands Combined Authority, making it easier to prosecute people who park recklessly and endanger cyclists and pedestrians, for example. It forms part of a call for evidence by the Department for Transport ahead of the publication of a new Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. Mr Street said:

“We have made some significant progress in the West Midlands over the last 12 months in terms of improvements in the cycling infrastructure and promoting walking and cycling. 

“The most obvious examples are the progress being made by Birmingham City Council on the superhighway routes on Bristol Road and Walsall Road, as well as the bikeshare scheme which will give people across the West Midlands the chance to hire bikes. 

“But we need to be looking to the next stage, to making sure these superhighways become part of a network, not pieces of standalone infrastructure. 

“We need the Government’s help to enable us to take this to the next level, making cycling and walking a safer and easier option than it is now, with beneficial impacts on traffic congestion and air pollution.” 

Cllr Roger Lawrence, leader of City of Wolverhampton Council and transport lead on the WMCA, said: “We’re seeing an unprecedented level of investment in public transport in the West Midlands which will have a major impact on traffic congestion. 

“One of the most important ways we can do this is by improving the conditions for cycling and walking. 

“While excellent progress is being made, the call for evidence from the DfT is an opportunity to push for even greater investment, powers and devolution to accelerate the work currently taking place.”