Challenges – walking and cycling

Walking and cycling contribute to improving everyone’s health in Reading. The Reading Transport Strategy supports this. 

Encouraging more people to use more sustainable ways of getting around, like walking, cycling, and using public transport, improves the health and well-being of the individual. 

Reducing the number of vehicle journeys also improves the air quality which benefits everyone.

Air quality can also be improved by encouraging drivers to turn off their engines when they are not moving, and by separating walking and cycle paths away from busy roads.

Car ownership in areas of deprivation is lower than in other areas of the town. This makes it important to give these areas good and affordable public transport, with comprehensive walking and cycling networks.  

We want to make it safer to walk and cycle in Reading. To do this we have reviewed road accidents over the past five years to find where we can make improvements. This will include better crossings and making roads more pedestrian-friendly.  

By providing more secure and smarter bike parking around the town we want people to cycle to the shops or work with the confidence their equipment is safely stored. 

We have already made improvements to a number of cycle routes such as Shinfield Road and Christchurch Bridge. We intend to add and improve more to better connect communities to the places they want to go to shop, socialise or work. 

Read more about how we could reach these goals on our walking and cycling policies page.