It’s that time of year when, after the fun of Christmas, we put away the chocolates and thoughts turn to how we might try to live a little healthier in the year ahead.

People give up alcohol for ‘Dry January’, join gyms, dig out their running shoes or sign up for diet plans as they try to get into shape and shift a few pounds.

Well, this month, I thought I would share a little good news about a major new cash injection that could make life healthier for residents right across the West Midlands.

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has secured almost £3.5 million funding to support the better design, planning and development of cycling, wheeling and walking schemes in region.

What does that mean? Well, improving the opportunities for people to get about in a healthy way is a big part of my transport plan for our region, and this money, from Active Travel England, will mean we can really press ahead with all kinds of schemes.

The funding will deliver green jobs and enable the West Midlands to ensure its new cycle routes and lanes and projects are of the highest quality, meeting latest Government design standards.

It’s really important that we create a practical network of routes across our region, but it’s also vital that the lanes and routes are put in the right places, are safe and built to last.

TfWM, which is part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), has over recent years invested more than £50 million in a wide range of active travel schemes from the £8 million Binley Road Cycleway in Coventry to smaller neighbourhood-based schemes through the Better Streets Community Fund.

In fact, Active Travel England has rated the West Midlands’ efforts to coax people out of their cars to get about under their own steam as among the best in the UK.

This new investment is a huge vote of confidence in our ability as a region to deliver transformative cycling and walking projects.

We have already delivered record investment in cycling and walking infrastructure, including the hugely successful West Midlands Cycle Hire scheme and our growing Starley Network of safe cycleways.

We are not stopping there – we are making further investment in transport schemes that will enable active travel over the next five years. This £3.5m of new funding will help the region ensure they are

designed and delivered to the highest possible standard, all whilst creating new green jobs in the region.

We all know that the ‘new year, new you’ feeling doesn’t always last beyond January, and the plans we put in place to get healthier aren’t always easy to keep up.

But by building a transport network that will help us all get around in a healthier way, we can plot a route to a healthier future.

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