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The Bee Network is an elaborate plan to build more accessible and safe cycling lanes across the region, to promote walking and cycling as a viable form of transportation. You can search for developments in your local area: https://activetravel.tfgm.com/bee-network-whats-happening-near-me/

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The introductory video to TfGM's active travel strategy for the region:

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Less 'Anti-Car', more 'Pro-Cycling and Walking'

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Less 'Anti-Car', more 'Pro-Cycling and Walking'

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Active travel and LTNs have found themselves as contentious issues over the past few years. As such, many campaigning bodies and activists have changed the narrative, focusing on the benefits of cycling and walking, rather than directly attacking driving:

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Exercise prevents serious illness

Physical activity isn't a guarantee against all disease, but it has been shown to greatly reduce the chances of several serious illnesses.

Heart disease

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the UK.

According to the Chief Medical Officer, inactive and unfit people have almost double the risk of dying from heart disease compared to more active and fit people.

Asthma

Asthma has significantly increased amongst young people and adults in recent decades and traffic pollution has been shown to have a strong link to this.

By choosing sustainable transport we can all do our part to clean up the air in our cities.

Diabetes

According to Diabetes UK, physically active people have a 33-50% lower risk of developing type II diabetes compared to inactive people.

Cancer

By being physically active, you can reduce the risk of breast, bowel and womb cancer.

Cancer Research UK says that keeping active could help to prevent more than 3,000 cases of cancer in the UK every year.

Be active for your general wellbeing

Many other areas of your health and wellbeing will benefit from increasing your activity, too.

Bad backs

The British Chiropractic Association specifically identified shorter car journeys as placing the back under immense strain.

Driving to a desk job means prolonged hours of physical inactivity negatively affecting posture and circulation.

Mental Health

Studies have shown that physical activity can be used to overcome, and even prevent depression and anxiety.

According to the Mental Health Foundation, physical activity can be as effective as medication and counselling.
Read more about why being active is great for your mental health.
Don't give up

If you're thinking about getting active, be patient and try and find the right exercise for you.

It may be a bit intimidating at first, but once you've found your groove, you'll never look back.

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sustrans
sustainable transport
environmental charity
walking charity
cycling charity
charity
walking
cycling

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Exercise prevents serious illness Physical activity isn't a guarantee against all disease, but it has been shown to greatly reduce the chances of several serious illnesses. Heart disease Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the UK.

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Academic Literature: Lessons from Europe

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Academic Literature: Lessons from Europe

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An academic paper that is over 20 years old, already showing how Europe has led the way in cycling and walking for decades. Proper infrastructure and government-led support schemes clearly pays off:

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Living Streets are one of a number of charities who are trying to raise awareness of the growing issue of air pollution in urban areas. You may have seen significant media interest in London, where measures of air pollution in the captial are dangerously high. Some more information on policy moves and decisions:

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What we say

Walking is great for your health, but air pollution is putting the public at risk.

The two pollutants of most concern are microscopic airborne particles, known as particulate matter (PM), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

There is no safe level of particulate matter and the UK Government is breaking the law with current levels of air pollution. People who walk or cycle do not contribute to air pollution, but are unfairly exposed to it.

Living Streets fully endorses the NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) quality standard on outdoor air quality and health.

What we want

We want the Government to take action on diesel exhausts in our towns and cities and to invest more in walking and cycling. We are also calling for a new Clean Air Act. The first act was introduced to deal with coal fire smog in 1956. We now need new legislation.

1. Support our work with a donation

Did you know that over 70% of air pollution is produced by road traffic? By prioritising cleaner air and investing in walking and cycling, our decision makers can help turn this around.

At least 40,000 premature deaths each year in the UK are attributable to air pollution

Last month, the European Heart Journal found toxic air is killing more people than tobacco smoking.

Investing in and prioritising walking and cycling can be part of the solution - help us call for change.

Can you chip in?

£15 will help us to campaign for cleaner air, together we will:

Work with UK and devolved governments to ensure clean air is prioritised. We're the pedestrian voice campaigning for a Clean Air Act and more investment in walking and cycling.

Respond to clean air consultations in key towns and cities across the UK, and call for Clean Air Zones

Provide campaigners with materials to pick up the fight in their area!

Support our work

3. Download our Air Quality consultation how-to guide

A number of areas across the country are, or soon will be, asking people to give feedback on their plans to tackle air pollution. This is a key opportunity for Living Streets groups and supporters to push your local authorities to do more to effectively tackle air pollution, and to promote the importance of walking as the natural choice for short journeys.

Our how-to guide outlines Living Streets' position on the main issues, such as the importance of charging Clean Air Zones, and provides ideas local authorities can take up, for example a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL). It gives you text that you can combine with your own local knowledge to submit a strong consultation response.

Download The How-To Guide

80%

Proportion of toxic nitrogen oxide concentrations found at roadside comes from motor traffic, especially diesel vehicles

40,000

Premature deaths each year in the UK are attributable to air pollution.

38/43

UK zones that exceeded legal levels of nitrogen dioxide emissions in 2013.

Blog post

BBC Two's Fighting For Air was a great example of how communities can make their neighbourhoods more liveable - and the Walk to School made a starring appearance.

Matt, our digital coordinator, loved it and thinks you will, too.

Read the blog post now

Wouldn't I be safer from air pollution in the car?
Studies show that levels of air pollution are broadly similar inside and outside of cars and may be higher for vehicles stuck in traffic. Results vary from one study to another, but demonstrate that the car does not offer protection from air pollution. If you are on foot you get the added health benefits from walking, which outweigh any negative effects of air pollution.

Won't electric cars solve this problem?
Electric cars are far from commonplace and do nothing to reduce the number of vehicles on the road which causes congestion and the worst cases of air pollution. We need to take action now to reduce illegal air pollution levels. The quickest, most effective and sustainable way to do this is to encourage more walking journeys.

Would changing where I walk reduce my exposure to air pollution?
We believe everyone has the right to walk along the most direct route to their destination without fear of air pollution. However, studies have shown that walking further away from the kerb and using alternative routes (such as a block away from the most polluted roads) will reduce exposure to air pollution.

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Walking is great for your health, but air pollution is putting the public at risk. The two pollutants of most concern are microscopic airborne particles, known as particulate matter (PM), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). There is no safe level of particulate matter and the UK Government is breaking the law with current levels of air pollution.

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Some key information and data on walking and cycling in European countries:

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Mobility and transport - European Commission

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The European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO) gathers harmonised specialist information on road safety practices and policy in European countries.

Evidenced-based approaches lie at the heart of the most successful road safety polices - backed up by accident and other road safety data. ERSO collects a range of information types. These include a series of data protocols and collection methodologies, national and in-depth accident data, exposure data and safety performance indicators.

This website's content was developed by the project and was later updated and expanded by the project. Current updates are managed by the EU's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport.

Submit any queries about ERSO here.

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Observatory - Mobility and transport - European Commission

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The European Road Safety Observatory (ERSO) gathers harmonised specialist information on road safety practices and policy in European countries. Evidenced-based approaches lie at the heart of the most successful road safety polices - backed up by accident and other road safety data. ERSO collects a range of information types.

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TfGM have a shiny new website, for all your information on active travel in the region:

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For travel by bike and on foot in Greater Manchester, this is your first stop. Find walking and cycling resources along with ways to help you get more active, feel better, save money, cut congestion and make GM a better, more active place to live.

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Living Streets are a fantastic walking and cycling charity. They lead on major national schemes, such as the famous Walk to School Week. Further details of how primary schools can be involved:

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walk with us!

Our five-day walking challenge is the perfect activity to run as part of out annual celebration of the walk to school in May, Walk to School Week.

A huge thank you every single school, pupil and family who joined Walk to School Week this year!
Over 1,000 schools and 350,000 pupils walked to school for a whole week - making it our biggest one yet!

​

DID YOU MISS OUR MAY EVENT?
YOU CAN STILL TAKE PART!
Order your resources today and join the challenge this summer term or whenever suits your school (packs are undated)!

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THIS YEAR'S THEME AND ACTIVITY

Are your pupils ready to Walk with Wildlife? This year's challenge encourages children to travel actively to school every day of the week. Meeting various animals along the way, they'll learn about the important reasons to walk and the difference it can make for individuals, communities and the planet!

Welcome to Walk with wildlife

Pupils will be encouraged to walk, wheel, cycle and scoot to school every day of the week, earning stickers as they go along, with a special reward up for grabs at the end of the week!

Get ready to walk for:

inclusion

sustainability

health

mindfulness

friendship

ARE YOU UP FOR THE CHALLENGE?

Your class will work together to make as many active journeys as possible. Pupils will be tracking their progress each day on the fun and interactive classroom wallchart.

Individual activity diaries, daily stickers and end of week pupil rewards will complement this activity, reinforcing the benefits and keeping children engaged.

Classroom packs contain resources for up to 30 pupils and are available in KS1/P1-3 and KS2/P4-7 variants, featuring differing, age-appropriate curriculum-aligned activities.

Inside each pack you'll find:

Teacher guidance

One double-sided classroom wallchart / pledge poster

Daily stickers for pupils and wallchart

30 pupil activity diaries

30 end of week pupil rewards

Did you know? You can use your PE and Sport Premium funding to cover the cost of your Walk to School Week packs.

Everyone can join walk to school week

As a walking charity we want to remove barriers to active travel. We support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities to enjoy walking, including travel by wheelchair or mobility scooter. Encouraging parents to park even a little way from the school reduces congestion and air pollution at the school gates and improves road safety. Pupils can walk or wheel the last few minutes into school and still earn their reward. However, we understand that walking/wheeling to school, even part of the way, might not be an option for all. In these cases, we encourage pupils to become Walk to School Week ambassadors and assist the teacher in running the challenge to earn their own reward.

Is your school already taking part in WOW?

On our shop page you will also find additional resources to make this Walk to School Week even more fun. From Walk to School banners, to limited edition badges to Strider mascot toys, make the most of your Walk to School Week! These resources are suitable for schools already taking part in WOW who want to offer an extra reward to those who walk to school every day of Walk to School Week.

visit our shop for add-on resources

"Walk To School Week is something we are very happy to get involved with and which the children have really enjoyed. It gives them the opportunity to do some exercise each and every day. As well as this, traffic is really heavy during term times so we will do anything to help alleviate the issue."
Philip Salisbury, Headteacher - Woodfield Junior School

"Walk to School Week has gone brilliantly, I've been really impressed. The best thing is seeing the children's enthusiasm for walking. They want to walk, they want to get that exercise, they want to take part, the parents want to take part too because the children encourage them which is brilliant. It's all about everyone encouraging each other. Where there's a possibility to walk, let's use our feet and let's keep the traffic off the streets so it's a much safer place."

Mrs Baker, Headteacher at St Joseph's Primary School, Bristol

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Our Walk to School Week 2023 will take place 15-19 May! Resources are available now on our shop and the new theme is Walk with Wildlife.

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Everything seems to happen in Hackney. Here is a link to a detailed overview of the development of LTN's that Hackney council have led on:

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The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we all get around.

People are walking and cycling more, spending more time in their local area and drastically reducing the amount they travel by public transport.

This brought a number of benefits to the capital like cleaner air, less traffic, higher levels of active travel and quieter, more pleasant neighbourhoods.

However, there are also wider trends at play. Since 2013, there has been a significant rise in the number of car journeys in London, which has been replicated in Hackney, most of which has occurred on neighbourhood roads. We also know that around 40% of the borough's traffic passes through without stopping.

We want to rebuild a greener Hackney that protects all of our communities from these rises in traffic, supports people to make healthier local journeys, prioritises public transport for those who need it, and creates cleaner, greener streets for everyone to enjoy.

We've:

introduced new trial low traffic neighbourhoods in London Fields, Hackney Downs and Hoxton West, alongside new traffic filters at other locations

introduced 32 new trial School Streets, with more to follow, helping over 14,000 children walk and cycle to school

introduced new protected cycle lanes on Queensbridge Road and Green Lanes

In September, the Council's Cabinet approved an emergency transport plan that outlines further plans it has over the coming months:

Have your say

Many of these schemes have now been in place for a number of months, and we want you to let us know what you think of them. We're encouraging everyone to respond, whether you walk, cycle, take public transport or use a car to get around, and whether you live near a low traffic neighbourhood or School Street or not.

We want to make sure that views from all of Hackney's diverse residents are heard and the impacts - both positive and negative - are considered before decisions are made on whether or not to make schemes permanent.

All measures are being introduced using experimental traffic orders for a maximum period of 18 months, which means you can have your say as they're implemented, which we'll take into account, alongside traffic monitoring, before deciding whether to make them permanent.

The feedback period for some smaller schemes will start to close from 31 May, so it's important that you have your say.

Engagement on larger schemes will continue to run so residents have the opportunity to see how they operate as we emerge from lockdown.

We've written to all residents in the local area prior to implementation, outlining how they can have their say.
Find out more and have your say
Why have you introduced new trial low traffic neighbourhoods and School Streets?

We implemented these changes to support people to walk, cycle and shop locally in the wake of the pandemic, helping to prioritise public transport for those who need it as bus capacity remains low.

Low traffic neighbourhoods in Hackney are not new. The first one was introduced in De Beauvoir in 1974. However, in the last ten years, there has been a significant rise in the number of car journeys on roads across London, which has been replicated in Hackney. We know that around 40% of the borough's traffic passes through without stopping or providing any significant benefit to the borough.

Department for Transport data also shows that most of the rise in traffic in London has occurred on minor roads, due to the rise in use of sat nav apps.

Low traffic neighbourhoods and School Streets are important because they discourage through-traffic from using neighbourhood streets - where there are fewer pedestrian crossings and roads are less able to handle high volumes of traffic - and encourage people to switch local car journeys for walking and cycling. We know that not everyone can make this switch, which is why all addresses in low traffic neighbourhoods can still be accessed by car.

What happens next?

We are continuing to look at people's comments and monitoring traffic on roads in and around new low traffic neighbourhoods. We want to make sure that all residents' views are heard so you will still be able to have your say, and we will also commission independent polling of residents in the borough to make sure we are reaching a representative sample of residents.

We are also monitoring traffic levels in the borough - through analysis of Transport for London continuous traffic monitors, our own-monitoring at over 200 sites during one week periods in November and early summer, and by introducing our own network of fixed, real-time monitoring sites.

The Council will also be undertaking further air quality monitoring which will be used to help model the impacts of the schemes and aid with decision making on the schemes.

The Council will use all this information to make decisions on whether or not to make schemes permanent.

Commonplace engagement on some smaller schemes will start to close from 31 May, while engagement with residents on larger schemes with a bigger impact will continue for longer, to ensure that residents have the opportunity to continue to have their say as we emerge from lockdown.

FAQs

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The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we all get around. People are walking and cycling more, spending more time in their local area and drastically reducing the amount they travel by public transport. This brought a number of benefits to the capital like cleaner air, less traffic, higher levels of active travel and quieter, more pleasant neighbourhoods.