13 Enable active travel to schools

Theremust be real physical changes made to the routes to schools, and not just paying lip service to the concept of active travel. Instead of The Big Pedal (AKA Cycle to School Week) being a mere twitter hashtag, the council should use it as an opportunity to break ground on protected cycle paths along major routes to schools. At the same time, build new covered cycle parking for teachers and students, set up more school safety zones which ban vehicles within a certain radius, and make it more difficult, not easier, to park cars anywhere near a school.

12 Link up with the villages

It’s hard to drive into York these days, as it should be, but instead of sending people in the outer villages to other towns and cities, where they find it easier to park, let’s make it easy to cycle straight into York instead. With direct, separated routes, it could take just 20 minutes to reach the centre from the outskirts, and it would be even quicker on an e-bike! A proper network will reach out to people from all over the surrounding area and connecting the villages will provide routes for everyone along the way, too.