There is an appetite to travel differently in the Lake District

28th November 2023

ACTION with Communities in Cumbria has been conducting research with visitors and locals over the last 18 months about people’s appetite to travel differently in the Lake District. The results, shared at a recent event showed there clearly is.

Lorrainne Smyth CEO of ACT said: ‘This research collected responses from over 3,000 people, both locals and visitors, in face to face interviews, focus groups, three large online surveys and two events. The latest national online survey with 1,000 responses had 81% saying they would be willingly to travel without their car on holiday and 46% concerned about the impact of their travel choices on the environment. In local surveys 61% felt negatively about travel in the National Park and nearly 60% would like to see an integrated, cheaper transport system in the Lake District. Many respondents also indicated that charging for access to busy places at busy times would fund improvements in services for all. We have a lot of information from the surveys and, along with partners will be using this to inform planning for the future of transport services in the Lake District’.

This research was funded by The Lake District National Park Authority, The Friends of the Lake District, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and ACT and was commissioned by the Sustainable Transport and Travel Group of the Lake District National Park Partnership.

Lorrainne who chairs the group continued: ’We are committed to integrating people’s views into our future planning for the Lake District and have all the correct partners around the table to inform and develop different solutions for local and visitor travel in the future. Our speakers at the recent event showed us what has been done elsewhere and reflected on government policy to enable change. There are already really positive initiatives under way, such as shuttle buses into Lakeland valleys, the national £2 bus fare, lots of active travel, walking and cycling projects, and more projects being planned. The changes won’t be swift and will need investment so we don’t see charges being implemented soon; but we have heard that people are up for change and that gives us renewed energy and legitimacy to explore the options around different ways to travel in the Lake District’

You can see a recording of the event and the speakers slides on the ACT website : https://www.cumbriaaction.org.uk/what-we-do/transport

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