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25
Feb
Mayor to open £1m active travel fund for applications
The Mayor of York and North Yorkshire is set to open a £1 million fund to encourage walking and cycling in the region.
David Skaith will launch the fund at Oatlands Junior School in Harrogate this morning (February 25), where a range of innovative measures has led to more than 90% of children walking, wheeling or cycling to school.
These include a School Street that has transformed a congested road into a safer space where up to 100 people join a fortnightly bike bus. Other initiatives include a bike library, park and stride, 20mph speed limits and regular Dr Bike sessions to keep cycles in top condition.
Mr Skaith said:
Walking, wheeling and cycling should be part of a safer, happier school run. It’s fun, it’s healthy, and it’s precious quality time for children at the start and end of the day.
That’s why I’m kickstarting a revolution in active travel. Through the Mayor’s Active Travel Fund, I’m putting power into the hands of local people to create safer routes to build healthier, greener, and better connected places for generations to come.
We're backing communities with this £1 million investment, supporting practical, local initiatives that make a real difference on our streets and outside our school gates.
The funding is part of a wider £4 million active travel fund, which aims to support initiatives that improve walking routes, improve accessibility and encourage behaviour change, such as School Streets, bike buses and park and stride.
More than £2 million is already available to public bodies, including local councils, with successful applications due to be announced in the next few weeks.
The Oatlands Bike Bus.
Rhiannon Letman-Wade, active travel commissioner for York and North Yorkshire, said:
The schemes running in Harrogate are exactly the kind of projects we want to see more of across the region. They show how a community can secure much-needed improvements and create safer streets for children and the wider community.
This fund is about empowering communities to take the lead, supported by targeted investment, so that together we can provide opportunities for people across our city, towns, rural and coastal areas to make more affordable and sustainable travel choices.
Community organisations, businesses, charities and schools can apply to the fund here.
The deadline for applications is April 10, 2026.
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