Anti-cycling coverage in parts of the media is damaging public health, according to Chris Boardman, who leads government efforts to boost active travel in England.
Mr Boardman, who is also a former champion cyclist, heads up Active Travel England, which aims to make ‘walking, wheeling and cycling the preferred choice for everyone to get around’.
But he told the Guardian there is currently ‘a very consistent, non-evidence-based, negative narrative to stop any change’.
Under Rishi Sunak’s government, ministers published a ‘long-term government plan to back drivers’ and pushed back against ‘anti-car measures’ like 20mph speed limits and low-traffic neighbourhoods.
Despite Labour’s General Election win, it remains ‘very politically noisy’ to stand for better walking and cycling routes, which could discourage local politicians from doing so, Mr Boardman said.
He said active travel was the ‘foundation of a thriving public transport’ and argued that changing the way people move around was the only way to achieve the Government’s pledge to tackle the underlying causes of preventable ill-health.
