One of the big issues is that councils "fund" public realm changes from the central government grants. I do a lot of work with my local council to deliver bett

One of the big issues is that councils "fund" public realm changes from the central government grants. I do a lot of work with my local council to deliver better child safe cycle infrastructure. The Local Sustainable Transport Fund is coming to an end in 2016. Cycle City Ambition Grant money is an ad-hoc grant that only impacts 8 cities and many transport ideas would take years to deliver. Providing a national "fund" that councils could put together projects and then "bid" for funding with a focus on delivering healthy transport options (walking/cycling/public transport) would enable the delivery of huge long-term health benefits. One of the reasons London does so well with some of the cycling schemes is that there is a committed 10-year plan to invest in cycling. Without this type of financial commitment you don't get a good safe network. You get little bitty pieces of ad-hoc infrastructure that the council hopes to connect together eventually IF future grants become available.