Warning as funding for city bike project comes to an end

Now fears are growing that without extra financial backing, the good work done could start to unravel.

York Council was awarded £3.68m in Government funding in 2008, for the three-year Cycling City York scheme – money which has now run out.

Campaigners say it has proved a real success, with a 43 per cent increase in the number of cyclists across York and an estimated 15 per cent increase in children cycling to school.

Cycling City York’s programme manager Graham Titchener says the council has now applied for £5m in funding from the Government’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund and should find out if it is successful by mid-April.

But he warns without the money, the momentum for boosting cycling in the city could be lost.

“This extra money is very vital,” he said.

“It has been very successful and there has been an increase right across the scale.

“It is critical to keep it going and really keep that growth happening.

“There is always the danger that it does reverse if we don’t keep the scheme going forward.”

Since the Cycling City York scheme was launched, officers have worked closely with schools across the city and spearheaded a number of initiatives to get workers to use bicycles on their daily commute.

The managing director of the city’s Bike Rescue Project, Bernie Cullen, which moved into a new £285,000 cycling hub in a former electricity substation on the banks of the River Ouse earlier this year, providing changing facilities and secure parking for 100 cycles, said up to 20,000 people were now cycling to work every day.

She said: “It is very important to keep the dialogue open between people wanting to use bikes and people providing the service.

“If you look at the number of bikes now on the roads in York every day, it is hard to believe.”

The £5m fund will also be spent on a number of sustainable transport schemes in the city, including car sharing and better public transport.