My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Clark) has made the following Ministerial Statement.

I am today announcing that large urban areas across England are being given the chance to bid to become the country's first sustainable travel city.

Up to £29 million will be invested over three years in at least one of England's larger cities to encourage greener travel choices. These could include plans to support walking, cycling and initiatives to improve public transport. 

This follows the success of the Department for Transport's three sustainable travel towns, which over the past five years have seen car use fall by up to 9 per cent, walking increase by up to 14 per cent, and cycling increase at least 12 per cent.

The aims of the sustainable travel city or cities are to ease congestion, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increase levels of physical activity in the local area.  By achieving this, the city will provide a model for others to follow.   The chosen city will introduce innovative new strategies and build on existing work to achieve this, which could include:

work or school travel planning;

cycle training;

personalised travel planning;

online journey planning;

car share schemes;

car clubs;

reviewing parking provision;

dedicated bus routes;

improved bus stops and shelter;

cycling/pedestrian routes; and

20 mph zones.

The major urban areas eligible to apply suffer from the worst congestion in the country. The nine areas are; Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, Merseyside, West of England (Bristol), Nottingham and Leicester.

We are also announcing up to £3 million of funding to smaller local authorities areas to help them develop their own green travel initiatives.