British government spending billions to promote biking and walking so people can avoid buses, trains
LONDON - The British government is making $3.1 billion (2 billion pounds) available to boost cycling and walking once lockdown restrictions are eased.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said at the government's daily briefing that the package to put cycling and walking at "the heart of our transport policy" will be necessary, even after public transport networks get back to normal during the coronavirus pandemic.
He said that because of the ongoing social distancing guidelines, trains and buses will operate at only 10% of capacity.
Shapps also said another 346 people who tested positive for COVID-19 have died in the U.K. in all settings, including hospitals and care homes. That increases the death toll in the U.K. to 31,587, the highest in Europe.