The government has announced a £2 billion cycle and walking package to reduce the number of people using public transport when they return to work.

Speaking at the Downing Street briefing, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the public transport system cannot go back to where it left off before coronavirus lockdown. The network will only be able to carry one tenth of the capacity with social distancing measures in place, he said, making other modes of transport more important than ever.

He said: ‘Importantly, it is true to say that moving beyond Covid will be a gradual process, not a single leap to freedom.

‘So when we do emerge, the world will seem quite different, at least for some time. The need to maintain social distancing means that our public transport system cannot go back to where it left off, and here is a very stark fact, even with public transport reverting to a full service, once you take into account the two metre social distancing rule, there would only be effective capacity for one in 10 passengers in many parts of our network.’

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He said getting Britain moving again whilst avoiding over crowing on buses and trains ‘represents an enormous logistical challenge’. But he said this problem presents a health opportunity too as it could encourage Britons to become fitter and healthier.

The £2 billion fund will put walking and cycling ‘at the heart’ of the government’s transport policy, he said, with a national cycling plan expected to be unveiled in June.

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The first stage of the plan will be a £250 million package of swift emergency interventions to make cycling and walking safer. That will include pop-up bike lanes, wider pavements and cycle and bus only streets.

In addition, the government will publish fast track statutory guidance requiring councils in England to cater for significantly increased numbers of cyclists and pedestrians, ‘making it easier for them to create safer streets’.

Mr Shapps said ministers will work closer with employers to increase uptake in the cycle to work scheme, which he said already allows employees to save between 25 and 39% of the cost of a new bike or electric bike. There are also plans for a new voucher scheme for bike repairs and for maintenance.

Some of the funding will go towards the NHS, with GPs being asked to prescribe cycling to help get the national fitter. It will also go towards making one zero emission city, where the centre will be restricted to bikes and electric vehicles only, and the creation of a long term cycling programme and budget.

£10 million will be invested in electric car charging points and accelerating filling up of pot holes.

Trials of e-scooters, underway in four local authorities, will be extended to every region in the country that wants them ‘in a bid to get e-scooter rental schemes up and running in cities as fast as possible.’ The trials will start in the next few months.

Mr Shapps said measures on improving roads and public transport for those who can’t walk or cycle to work will be announced in the coming days.

He said: ‘This £2 billion package represents the biggest investment in cycling and walking by any British government.

‘Clearly it will never be possible to cycle walk or even E-Scooter everywhere…. In the coming days, there will be further announcements in the investments we will be making in roads and in rail, taking advantage of the low usership during this crisis.’

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