England unveils £4.5 billion plan for safer walking and cycling routes
England set a 2035 target for 60% of children to travel actively to school, but current habits still lean heavily on cars and unsafe streets.
England’s new active travel pledge will be judged less by strategy documents than by what changes at the kerb outside schools. The Department for Transport’s third cycling and walking investment strategy set a 2035 target for 60% of children aged 5 to 16 to travel actively to school, alongside a goal for 55% of short trips in towns and cities to be walked, wheeled or cycled.
The government said the plan would be backed by a projected £4.5 billion over the next five years, with funding aimed at 5,000 new walking, wheeling and cycling routes and 10,000 safer crossings by 2030. Ministers say the routes should connect homes with schools, high streets, local services and transport hubs, turning walking and cycling into the easier everyday option rather than a niche choice.
The gap the strategy has to close is already visible in school travel habits. In 2024, 51% of trips to and from school by children aged 5 to 10 were made on foot, but 43% were by car. Among 11- to 16-year-olds, 37% walked and 30% travelled by car, while only around 2% cycled in both age groups. In parliamentary debate, MPs cited National Travel Survey figures showing the share of children aged five to 15 who walk or cycle to school had fallen from 67% in 1975-76 to 47% in 2023.
Parents say the barriers are practical and immediate. The most common reasons for not walking more were that school was too far away, the journey took too long or the child was too young. The most common changes that would encourage more walking were safer roads and more safer crossings, a reminder that behaviour shifts only when streets feel usable for children, not just acceptable on paper.
Campaigners have argued for years that infrastructure is the missing piece. Living Streets said the government was failing to meet its previous walk-to-school target, while Active Travel England said school-focused initiatives already include Bikeability cycle training, the Walk to School programme and a national active school travel survey. A 2025 school-run inspector scheme found around 40% of primary school children and 25% of secondary pupils were being driven to school, with drop-offs accounting for around 25% of peak morning traffic in London.
The government says the strategy is meant to support a national active travel network and deliver cleaner air, better public health, lower carbon emissions and savings for households. Whether those gains arrive will depend on whether families see safer crossings, calmer roads and better route design on the ground, especially at the places where school journeys begin and end.
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