We want York – our historic city and its surrounding villages – to be an environmentally sound, healthy, economically sustainable and socially vibrant place to live, study, work, do business,and visit. 

To achieve these aims, we want York to be a place where:

• Cycling is safe: cyclists have space and are protected from traffic
• Cycling is accessible: everyone, regardless of age, experience or ability, is able to cycle
• Cycling is convenient: everyday journeys are easy and enjoyable on a cycle. 

We believe that an increase in cycling will…

• Reduce York’s carbon footprint and improve local air quality
• Enable residents to be more active, improving physical and mental well-being, and reducing the burden on health services
• Tackle congestion, making public transport more reliable and essential vehicle journeys more efficient 
• Improve equality by ensuring that everyone has access to this low cost form of transport 
• Boost the economy by encouraging local spending, and through increased productivity 
• Make York a more liveable place for residents by improving neighbourhoods and increasing community cohesion
• Ensure that York remains an attractive destination for visitors.

We want City of York Council to:

1. Put cycling at the heart of the York’s Local Transport Strategy, with the aim of making York one of the top three UK cities for cycling (based on proportion of journeys made by cycle);
2. Provide sufficient resources – in terms of budget allocation and appropriately qualified personnel – to achieve this cycling target, and proactively bid for national and regional funding for active transport schemes; 
3. Apply the transport hierarchy in planning decisions, which means prioritising the needs of people with disabilities, pedestrians, and cyclists;
4. Ensure new developments, redevelopments and infrastructure upgrades meet national design standards and guidance for cycling;
5. Deliver a connected network of continuous, direct, protected cycle routes to key destinations (work, education, shopping, leisure, health) in York and its surrounding villages; complemented by residential/shopping/school streets which prioritise the needs of pedestrians and cyclists;
6. Ensure new and existing cycle routes are well-maintained, barrier-free, well-lit and usable by all types of cycle and rider, whatever the weather or time of day;
7. Provide cycle parking – in the city centre, local centres and residential areas – that is plentiful, immediately adjacent to where it is needed, secure, and suitable for all types of cycle and rider.