Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Transport – in the Senedd at 2:03 pm on 6 June 2018.
The Member's absolutely right in terms of numbers. The number of people who are currently walking, while significant, could be far, far greater, particularly for very short journeys. And the Member is absolutely right as well that it's safety anxiety that prevents people currently from walking small journeys instead of taking cars.
The £60 million capital funding will be provided for projects that deliver against both walking and cycling objectives, but, in terms of the encouragement that the Member highlights as required for people to walk more, the active journeys scheme within schools will encourage young people to walk as well as to cycle. Likewise, the active journeys scheme that will be rolled out to include parents will equally encourage parents to walk and to cycle as well.
Moving forward, I need to discuss with the active travel board what new arrangements can be made for encouraging and supporting people not just to cycle but to also walk more often as well.