Source: Bloomberg City Lab

Date Published: 08.06.2025

Link: What England’s New National Cycling Network Needs to Get Rolling

A consortium of mayors across England have committed to building 3,500 miles of a nationwide walking and cycling network across England. The plan promises safer, more connected infrastructure that could dramatically improve public health helping “get 1.6 million people more active” while reducing car dependency and cutting emissions supporting municipalities of all sizes becoming net-zero cities. However, its success hinges on overcoming conspiracy theories and political resistance, rethinking car-centric street design, and reallocating limited funding already stretched across transport priorities. The initiative’s strength lies in its local execution backed by national coordination and mayoral leadership, while being positioned as a child safety initiative. For smaller cities and towns where low income residents spend a quarter of their income on a car and for England overall where one in six deaths are related to physical inactivity, the network offers a rare chance to reduce resident costs and improve public health while aligning with broader climate goals.