Cycling around Cambridgeshire could feel more like Amsterdam under plans to improve how people can cycle and walk in the region.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has said it wants to help people make “healthier” journeys in its proposed Local Transport and Connectivity Plan (LTCP).

The authority wants walking and cycling to be the “obvious first choice for most short trips” and has said investing in “world-class Dutch-quality” walking and cycling facilities will help with this.

In papers released by the authority, the new transport plan offers proposals for an “overarching direction of travel for transport”.

The plan covers aims for public transport, as well as ‘active travel’, such as cycling and walking infrastructure.

The transport plan sets out six main goals:

* giving employers and people the means to improve productivity

* improve connectivity between communities and give more opportunity to access work and other services

* reduce emissions to net zero by 2050

* protect the environment and green spaces

* improve health and wellbeing by creating more opportunities to access “health journeys”

* improve safety by reducing the risk of transport systems.

The plan said its strategy to achieve these ambitions will be to help people reduce the distances they need to travel, shift people from using cars to public transport and other forms of ‘active travel’, and improving the transport services available.

The Combined Authority Board is due to meet next week (May 31) to discuss and approve the new plan.

‘We are an increasingly sedentary society’

The proposed transport plan said the country was an “increasingly sedentary society” and that “embracing active travel” can help increase the amount of exercise people do.

The document said walking and cycling needed to be the “natural first choice” for making most short trips.

However, the plan recognised that in some parts of the county, particularly rural areas, walking and cycling can be difficult due to the poor road conditions and concerns around safety.

It said investment was needed in active travel infrastructure, as well as making bikes and e-bikes more accessible to people.

It said: “This plan recognises the important link between people and place and the benefits that high-quality public realm, which encourages increased levels of active travel, can bring to the local economy as well as benefiting the environment.

“We support interventions that contribute to making active travel the obvious first choice for most short trips, or as part of a longer trip by other forms of sustainable transport.

“This investment in world-class Dutch-quality walking and cycling facilities will include a network of segregated cycleways across our region, designed where appropriate to accommodate a wide range of non-motorised users, including horse riders and carriage drivers.

“In addition, we support measures that improve and enhance the public realm and that prioritise pedestrians and non-motorised users over vehicles.”

The transport plan said the authority will also support, where appropriate, the creation of “20 minute neighbourhoods”.

The idea behind these neighbourhoods is that people’s everyday needs can be met within a short walk or cycle.

The plan said if done successfully, 20 minute neighbourhoods can “boost local economies, improve health and wellbeing, and increase social connections within communities”.

The Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Dr Nik Johnson, said: “The LTCP puts public health at its heart, where a better-connected region gives people more access to opportunity, boosts prosperity, cleans up our air, makes travel healthier and improves our wellbeing.

“It supports the country’s target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“Going further, the LTCP has an ambitious aim to cut by 15 per cent the amount of miles driven on our roads by 2030.

“It will do this primarily by making public transport and walking and cycling an attractive alternative – where it is faster, affordable, reliable, frequent and safe.

“The LTCP aims to make journeys seamless such as better linking of walking or cycling with public transport.”