CONGRATULATIONS to the Bournemouth council team that successfully bid for £4.5m of funding for sustainable travel.

We need to spend much more on walking, cycling and public transport if we are to start to change our streets into pleasant, habitable spaces.

What your article fails to point out is that only 30 per cent of the funding is allowed to be allocated to infrastructure (cycle lanes, zebra crossings etc).

The other 70 per cent has to be spent on ‘soft’ measures to promote cycling like training, events and the like.

To my mind this is one step forward, two pedals back.

We have ‘promoted’ and ‘educated’ people to use bikes for years – it has no significant effect in the long term. There are two main factors that need to be addressed: 1. Fear – there is a huge latent demand for cycling but people are put off through fear of traffic.

Even hardened, experienced cyclists are subjected to dangerously close overtaking and abuse (verbal and physical).

Many who would like to cycle are afraid to and most parents are afraid to let their children go out on bikes.

This can only be solved through road engineering to the sort of standards the Dutch use.

2. Making driving less desirable – We have to make people want to cycle because it’s an easier/quicker /desirable method of travel.

If we don’t, people won’t want to switch from cars.

MIKE CHALKLEY, Chair of Bournemouth Cycling Forum, Cowper Road, Bournemouth