Written question asked by Dan Jarvis (Labour) on Wednesday, 29 April 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 4 May 2020 (named day). It was answered by Chris Heaton-Harris (Conservative) on Monday, 4 May 2020 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Cycling and Walking: Coronavirus

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing additional funding for (a) walking and (b) cycling routes to increase active travel capacity in response to the challenges of operating public transport networks during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answer: The Government agrees that reallocating road space to give pedestrians and cyclists more room can be a good way of enabling more people to move around safely while maintaining social distancing, thus helping to relieve pressures on public transport as well as delivering other benefits. It supports the steps many local authorities are taking to deliver this, but decisions on where and how to do it are a matter for local authorities who are responsible for managing their roads, and who already have the necessary powers. The Government has provided over £3.2 billion of additional funding to local authorities to help them respond to coronavirus (COVID-19) pressures across all the services they deliver, and will continue to consider the case further support.

Secondary information