Council reveals active travel plans

The council has revealed how it plans to encourage more people in the city to ditch the car for walking and cycling.

Worcester City Council said it will be trying to support more people to travel by foot or bike including cycle share schemes for residents and visitors and extra cycle parking at parks and community centres.

The council said it would also be working with schools to encourage more students to walk and cycle.

The council plans to give active travel a boost are to help met a national target to see half of all journeys in towns and cities made by bike or foot by 2030.

Councillor Lynn Denham, chair of the city council’s health and wellbeing committee, said travelling by foot, bike or scooter would boost fitness and cut congestion and harmful pollution.

“Helping people to walk and cycle more, or take up another form of active travel, can only be a good thing,” she said.

“It increases their health and wellbeing, reduces pollution and congestion, and helps Worcester edge closer to becoming a carbon-neutral city.

“I hope the committee will give its support to this important new plan.”

The council will also be driving home the benefits of switching at its big showpieces like the Worcester Show and Victorian Christmas Fayre and other events.

The council said it would also be leading by example and encouraging more of its staff to walk or cycle to and from work and while out and about.

This includes improving bike storage facilities at the council’s offices, offering training on cycling safely, allowing staff to borrow e-bikes for journeys between council premises, and promoting a scheme that allows employees to spread the cost of buying a new bike.

Worcestershire is among one of only four counties in the country to have the worst possible ‘zero’ rating from Active Travel England, which offers councils a share of £200m to build walking and cycling routes and make other improvements.

Because of its poor rating, Worcestershire County Council was not even allowed to bid this time around and as a result received no money.

The work will be discussed by the council’s health and wellbeing committee at a meeting in the Guildhall on June 12.