Parliamentary Bike Ride Returns For 2022
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Cycling and Walking (APPGCW) Parliamentary Bike Ride returned last week for the first time since 2019.
The event, a highlight in the annual cycling calendar, brought together Members of Parliament (MPs) and Peers, experts, advocates as well as Dutch companies, for the first time since 2019, as the previous two rides had been postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This year, they were joined by Trudy Harrison MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport.
Organised in close collaboration between the Dutch Embassy and the APPGCW, the event started with a networking breakfast at the Dutch Centre. The formal part was kicked off with speeches from the Dutch Ambassador to the UK, Karel van Oosterom, Transport Minister Trudy Harrison MP and co-chair of the APPGCW Selaine Saxby MP.
The group then cycled to St James, between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. There, participants heard from Chris Boardman (Active Travel England), Isabelle Clement (Wheels for Wellbeing), Annette Bennet (Joyriders), Georgia Yexley (TIER), Ruth Cadbury MP and Naseem Akhtar (Saheli Hub).
Former Olympian, now Active Travel Commissioner for England, Chris Boardman addressed the meeting and said:
‘’We now need to change our language to talk about the people who aren’t in this room and what is important to them. And thankfully for us our soap box is so sturdy - you don’t want to give money to Putin for oil? We’ve got a solution for you. You want to save money for the family who’s really worried about the bills? We’ve got a solution. Health? We’ve got a solution, all of these things - and we need to make it visible in a language that other people value.’’
This comes at an exciting time for cycling in England, following the launch of Active Travel England earlier this year and a widespread increase in cycling over the past couple of years. The second Cycling and Walking Strategy (CWIS2), published this week, details how the Government’s Gear Change policy will be funded.
The group hopes that this event, having brought together such a wide range of stakeholders, will provide renewed focus on the urgency required to truly deliver the conditions and infrastructure for widespread uptake of cycling.
An even wider group of stakeholders, active travel industry policy makers, cycle businesses local and national transport planners and cycle organisation gathered, also for the first time since covid again, in Sheffield last week. During this leading UK active travel conference, Cycle City Active City Sheffield 2022, the 600 participants discussed the latest news from Active Travel England and the Department for Transport and insights from all parts of the industry. Speakers and exhibitors also included reps from Dutch companies Royal HaskoningDHV/ITP and Vinu who are already active in the UK since a number of years.
Ready to explore the sustainable mobility market in the UK?
If you are a Dutch business and you would like to know more about the UK market for electric vehicles, active travel, micro mobility and smart cities, you can contact the Tessel van Essen from the Embassy’s trade team if you have questions about active travel.
