Cycling and Walking in Birmingham

The WMCA has an ambitious plan to raise cycling investment to at least £10 per person each year to give a total ten-year investment of £283m.

The current cycling network across the West Midlands includes over 342 miles of canal towpath, greenways, and National Cycle Network including multiple on-road segregated cycle paths.

In 2011 just 1.7% of journeys in the region were by bike, but Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has set a target to raise this to 5% by 2023. A detailed Action Plan outlines the key activities that will be undertaken to achieve this target.

We are working with partner organisations to encourage cycling and walking across the region. With Cycling UK, we plan to develop community cycling clubs and through Living Streets we will engage with schools to encourage walking to school.

One example of a fantastic WMCA-led scheme is the award-winning Cycle Crime Action Plan. The Action Plan focuses on five key areas - enforcement, engagement, education, environment and evaluation.

This includes bike marking sessions in partnership with the Safer Travel team, the sale of D-locks and the deployment of decoy tracker bikes.

So far, £23m has been allocated to the West Midlands Cycling Programme from the Transforming cities fund. £2m of additional funding has been allocated to the Better Streets Community Fund, which local authorities are able to bid for to improve local cycling infrastructure. In addition to this, £6.3m has been spent on reviving the Black Country canal network to make it more accessible to cyclists.

We will continue to work with partners to deliver the improvements to cycling provisions and build business cases for future cycling investment in the region. You can find out more on our website.

Cycling and Walking Network in Birmingham

Community Cycle Clubs

A Cycling Development Officer through Cycling UK is in post to develop a network of community cycling clubs. The clubs actively encourage physical activity and link communities to regular use of local cycling infrastructure.

Clubs in Birmingham are:

• Amanah Bike Club (Muath Trust)
• ACP CCC
• B10 CCC
• Balsall Heath CCC
• Cycle South Brum CCC
• Gear Up CCC
• Gorilla Coffee Café Cycling Collective
• Handsworth CCC & Hamstead Pavilion CCC
• Joyful Bellas and Fellas CCC
• Ladywood CCC (New Roots)
• Friends United for Wellbeing CCC (previously Leisure Forum)
• Moor Pool Cyclists
• Pathfinders CCYW CCC
• Saheli Ward End CCC
• Sara Park CCC
• Share (Calthorpe) CCC
• 3CJ CC
• Bike2Life CCC
• Cannon Hill CC
• Bike North Bham CCC

Cycling and Walking Network in Birmingham

TfWM and the 7 constituent local authorities have developed the West Midlands LCWIP with a prioritised programme of investment in cycling and walking infrastructure improvement. Routes identified in Birmingham are:

Phase 1

• A34 Perry Barr Extension through to Walsall
• A45 Birmingham to Solihull
• City Centre A38 to A34 Connection

Phase 2

• A47, A38, B4148 Fort Parkway to Langley/ Walmley
• Birmingham East Side

Phase 3:

• Hagley Road Corridor

Phase 4:

• A38 Extension from Selly Oak to Longbridge
• A453, B4138, Perry Barr to Sutton Coldfield

Cycle Crime in Birmingham

TfWM continue to deliver our award-winning Cycle Crime action plan focusing on 5 key areas of enforcement, engagement, education, environment and evaluation to combat cycle theft at stations. This includes bike marking sessions (Love Your Bike) in partnership with the Safer Travel team, the sale of gold standard D-locks at a heavily discounted rate, and the deployment of decoy tracker bikes. Birmingham New Street is a cycle crime hotspot with heightened enforcement activity.

Cycle Storage

We are working with Network Rail at Birmingham New Street to deliver improved cycle parking at the station.

West Midlands Trains are delivering over 400 cycle parking spaces across rail stations in the West Midlands. These include Northfield, Selly Oak, Yardley Wood, Stechford, Sutton Coldfield and Four Oaks.

Station Travel Plans

West Midlands Trains are leading on Station Travel Plans (STPS) across the WMRE franchised rail network, including the West Midlands for the next 3 years.  Over 50 locations have been identified for STPS in the West Midlands. Over 30 of these stations are in Birmingham. The STP for Sutton Coldfield is already underway. In the future, Moseley, Hazelwell and Kings Heath stations will require an STP.

New Stations

Moseley, Hazelwell and Kings Heath stations will see cycle parking delivered as part of the new stations. 

Wheels for all

We are working with Wheels for All, Active Black Country and Local Authority partners we are developing a bid for Sport England to fund a Black Country Wheels for All programme with an ambition to expand the Wheels for All Centre in each of the West Midlands Local Authorities, and specifically Birmingham.