Plans for a new local sustainable transport fund have been announced by Liberal Democrat local transport minister Norman Baker.
Initiatives which the fund aims to encourage include: integration between travel modes; better public transport; improved traffic management schemes; and measures to encouraging walking and cycling.
The fund will encourage local transport authorities outside London to develop strategies to support economic growth, reduce carbon, improve safety, and increase levels of physical activity.
The Government also announced that, in line with its localism agenda, it intends to pool the centrally-funded local transport grants to create fewer but larger funding streams, which will be formula-based.
Funding for the initiative will be set aside from within the Department for Transport’s overall allocation following the Spending Review. Details about the new fund, including the resources available and how it will operate, will be announced later in the year.
Baker said: "It is at a local level that most can be done to change patterns of behaviour and encourage more sustainable travel, especially for short journeys.
"And in an environment of tighter budgets and greater local flexibility, the Government is determined to reduce bureaucracy and make local transport funding more efficient.
“That is why we intend to pool the myriad of centrally funded local transport grants, to create fewer but larger funding streams, largely formula based, and a new Local Sustainable Transport Fund."
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