DfT reveals £5 million school cycling programme

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced £5 million of investment to fund a new cycle training programme.

The programme, titled Bikeability Plus, has been piloted across 18 areas of England and introduces four and five year olds to balance training, teaches older pupils how to fix and maintain their bikes and encourages safer cycling to and from school.

The success of the pilot areas, which reached 20,000 children, has seen the number of students who cycle to school at least once a week double to 10 per cent. It is hoped that nearly 20,000 more children will now benefit from the training.

The funding is part of the wider £50 million Bikeability funding for cycle training for 2016 to 2020, with schools able to offer the new training to their pupils from September 2016.

Robert Goodwill, Minister of State at the DfT, said: “We want Britain to become a cycling nation and Bikeability Plus will be important in getting more children cycling safely and with confidence. There is no better way to make sure future generations of cyclists use healthy and green transport options.

“Bikeability has trained more than 1.5 million children to cycle since 2010. This new training will help children, including those from disadvantaged communities, to experience cycling for the first time.”