MORE cyclists are taking to the streets of a town thanks to the success of a scheme to cut traffic congestion.

The number of cycling trips in Darlington increased by more than a half and pupils also made five times as many trips to school during the three-year funding period of the Cycling Demonstration Town project.

Cycling England, which runs the scheme, has produced its first results from the towns which it said had been a “major success”.

In Darlington, all seven trends monitored were described as positive.

They included an increase in cycling of 57 per cent from the 2005 baseline figure.

Cycling around the town centre has increased and the number of cycling trips made per person per year doubled from 15 in 2004 to 33 in 2008.

Pupils showed that those who used cycling as the normal mode of transport had slightly increased, but spot surveys found that the number of pupils who cycled to school had increased from 1.2 per cent to 6.1 per cent.

Samples suggested that there were now an extra 1,021 people in Darlington cycling.

Councillor David Lyonette, cabinet member for highways in transport in Darlington, said: “Local Motion has showcased Darlington nationally as a leader in the sustainable transport field, demonstrating that targeted interventions aimed at changing the way people think about travel and providing greater travel choice can make a real and sustained difference to people’s travel behaviour.

“This clearly brings a significant amount of kudos to Darlington, and recognition should be given to all the organisations and individuals who have contributed to the success of the project.”

Darlington was one of six towns chosen in late 2005 to take part in the project and attracted £3.24m in investment.

Cycling England showed that cycling in those towns had increased by an average of 27 per cent, with Darlington coming out on top.

The report praised Darlington’s work among women and families, cycling in the Pedestrian Heart, signage which used times instead of distances and the use of elite cycle races as a “powerful hook”

to encourage schools to use Bikeability training. The town has also doubled the length of its cycle routes.