York awarded additional £100,000 towards i-Travel York scheme

City of York Council has been awarded an additional £100,000 from the Department of Transport, towards the city’s i-Travel York initiative.

One of only nine local authorities to receive the funding, York successfully won the financial backing following a bid in November 2013 to deliver the government’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund project (AKA the i-iTravel York programme).

This council’s i-Travel York initiative was launched in 2011, made possible by £4.6 million of government funding which the council successfully bid for in 2011.

Additional funding will allow advisors to extend the free door-to-door travel advice exercise, carried out in 2011/12, to 2,500 homes in the North of the city.

Over 12,000 homes in the North of York have already benefitted from the exercise which was made possible by the funding and is the most extensive ever carried out by City of York Council.

Travel advisers provided tailored travel advice in wards to encourage residents to consider using more sustainable and active modes of transport including walking, cycling, public transport, car sharing and smarter driving

Businesses are set to also benefit from the funding which will enable i-Travel advisors to develop personal travel planning in the workplace during 2014/15.

Cllr David Levene, Cabinet Member for Transport at City of York Council, said: “This is excellent news for York. i-Travel York has already proved to be a successful project with hundreds of residents already benefiting from this initiative and trying out new travel options, which is a completely free service. By supporting even more people to walk, cycle, use public transport, or car share across the city this will help to reduce traffic congestion, improve health, and meet our aims of increasing levels of cycling by 20 per cent and walking by 10 per cent by 2016.”

David Short, i-Travel York programme manager at City of York Council, said: “This additional funding was awarded to us in recognition of the excellent programme of work supporting sustainable travel in York and what has been achieved so far. Our bid was described as ‘exemplary’ by the Department of Transport.”