Storey sets out vision for boosting active travel in Greater Manchester

Plans for a cycle hire scheme, integrated ticketing, cutting school runs and a trial to carry bikes on trams all feature in a new strategy document from Greater Manchester’s active travel commissioner Dame Sarah Storey.

She is seeking input and involvement from “the wide array of stakeholders and members of the public who are already invested in making active travel more accessible for all, whilst also endeavouring to introduce every community to the benefits they may not yet be aware of”.

The strategy includes ten recommendations:

1. Renew the commitment for every part of Greater Manchester’s Bee Active Network to be universally accessible

2. Deliver a pilot for trialling the carriage of bikes and non-standard cycles on trams

3. Adopt Vision Zero, clearly stating a timeframe and plan 

4. Publish a plan for the expansion of the region’s cycle hire scheme 

5. Establish an integrated ticketing system for the Bee Network that incorporates cycle hire, allowing customers to complete end to end, multi-modal journeys with a single fare

6. Explore new offers - including for Our Pass holders - on Cycle Hire and TfGM’s Cycle Hubs to improve access and encourage use

7. Publish a comprehensive network review by the end of April 2023 

8. Publish a comprehensive update to the future pipeline of active travel infrastructure, acknowledging the previous ten year target and including annual goals to enable progress to be transparently tracked and reported on year by year. Target date of

April 2023 for the initial update.

9. Deliver a new plan for travel between home and school that reduces the number of children being driven less than 2km to their school 

10. Work with the region’s local authorities and the VCSE sector to create an expanding, accessible and diverse range of training offers to suit local needs that reaches all residents of GM by 2025. Collaborate with Bikeability to assist them in achieving the ambition to ensure that every child is able to achieve level 2 Bikeability by 2025.

Refreshing Greater Manchester’s Active Travel Mission