Invest more in cycling and walking schemes, says Boardman and Burnham

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said "successive governments have treated cycling and walking as an afterthought"

Olympic cycling champion Chris Boardman has joined Greater Manchester's mayor in asking the government to invest in a national cycling and walking network.

Mr Boardman and Andy Burnham want the government to follow Greater Manchester's example of spending £160m on green infrastructure projects.

They said a "real alternative to driving" would boost public health as well as cut congestion and pollution.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it was investing £2bn in cycling.

Mr Boardman, who won gold at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, was appointed Greater Manchester's first Cycling and Walking Commissioner in 2017.

He said cycling and walking currently only receive about 1% of the government's transport budget.

At a Transport Select Committee meeting in Manchester, Mr Boardman suggested cycling and walking schemes should receive the same amount of money as the roads budget.

He said: "This isn't about people riding bikes, it's about creating healthier, better places to live, more economically robust areas, revitalising town centres and giving people a real and attractive alternative to driving.

"By the government's own calculations, money invested in enabling people to cycle and walk is the most efficient transport spend that a nation can make."

'Congested roads, polluted air'

In June last year, Greater Manchester unveiled a £28m cycling network, called 'Beeline' routes.

The new routes would include six miles (10km) of Dutch-style cycle lanes that are separated from motor traffic.

Mr Burnham said: "Successive governments have treated cycling and walking as an afterthought.

"This cannot continue at a time when we've got congested roads, polluted air, and high levels of physical inactivity."

He said there was a "huge appetite" for a national cycling and walking network but the government needs to show the "same ambition" as Greater Manchester.

A DfT spokeswoman said: "As we set out in our Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, we want to make cycling and walking the natural choice for short journeys.

"This is why we're investing around £2bn in cycling over the course of this Parliament, with the aim of improving air quality and reducing obesity."