Member Article

£20m investment for Merseyside travel

Merseyside is set to benefit from nearly £20 of Government money following a successful bid into the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

Bidding on behalf of the Merseyside Transport Partnership (MTP), Merseytravel had already secured £4.88m in july 2011 from the Fund.

This latest raft of funding will go towards the extension of original schemes and to fund new schemes that will improve access to employment sites.

Merseytravel will introduce business travel support advisors and personalised travel planning; develop community travel hubs in areas such as Speke, Liverpool City Centre, East Wirral and Kirkby; introduce cycle buddy schemes and cycle hire in Liverpool City Centre and a Liverpool Lime Street cycle hub; and develop facilities at key employment destinations for active travel users.

Councillor Liam Robinson, Chair of Merseytravel said; “This is great news for the travelling public of the region, and just reward for the officers of Merseytravel and our partners for their hard work in bidding into the LSTF grant scheme.

“We are particularly pleased that the funding will also help those in disadvantaged communities to increase access to opportunities and widen travel horizons.

“The funding will act as a real boost in our campaign to encourage people across Merseyside to leave their cars at home and switch to sustainable travel.

“It will enable employers to work with their staff to help them make healthy, green and cost efficient travel choices.

“It also means that people who currently access public transport will benefit from improved facilities and enhanced interoperability between modes of traditional and sustainable transport; for example through the development of cycle hubs.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .