FRIENDS of the Lake District are dismayed by the stance Cumbria County Council has taken with the 2019 fare increases for the Windermere Ferry.

Foot and cycle fares have increased by 100 per cent this year while the fares for cars using the ferry have only increased by 12 per cent.

In a time of increasing awareness of the perils of climate change and the impact of pollution caused by vehicles, it is counterproductive to be financially penalising sustainable forms of transport such as walking and cycling by increasing their ferry costs.

The new fares will make it more expensive for a group of three cyclists to use the ferry than it would for them to take their car across the lake with the bikes attached to the back. A family of five may as well take their car on the ferry rather than travel as pedestrians as the cost will be the same.

This decision to significantly increase prices for cyclists and pedestrians but not for cars is likely to mean more cars on the narrow, winding roads on the west shores of Windermere; an area really not capable of accommodating an increase in vehicular traffic.

At a time when two of the local authorities in Cumbria have declared Climate Emergency, if Cumbria County Council was seriously committed to reducing climate change impacts, it would ensure that travelling by foot or bike on the Windermere Ferry was significantly less expensive than taking the car.

We would urge the county council to reconsider the price rises for pedestrians and cyclists in order to make these sustainable travel modes more attractive to visitors to the Lake District.

Dr Kate Willshaw

Policy Officer

Freinds of the Lake District